Northvolt AB is a Swedish battery developer and manufacturer, specialising in lithium-ion technology for electric vehicles.[4] Founded in 2015 by two former Tesla executives, it commissioned its first manufacturing plant in Skellefteå, Sweden in 2021 and announced plans for five others in Europe and North America. The company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on November 21, 2024.
History
The company was founded as SGF Energy in 2015 by Peter Carlsson [sv] (now CEO) and Paolo Cerruti (now CEO Northvolt North America) who were working in Supply Chain and Operations Planning at Tesla Motors prior to that.[4][5][6][7]
In June of the same year, companies such as the BMW Group, Volkswagen Group, Goldman Sachs and Folksam announced that they would invest in the company. In total, the investments amounted to US$1 billion, framed as a way to challenge what was reported as the dominance of Tesla, Inc. and Asian companies such as Toyota and Nissan on the market for electric vehicle batteries.[10] The company started building a battery factory in Skellefteå, Sweden, with the aim to start production of electric vehicle batteries in 2021.[5] The first battery in Skellefteå was assembled in December 2021, and the first customer cell deliveries were made in 2022.[11][12]
In 2019, Volkswagen and Northvolt announced that a second factory would be built in Salzgitter, Germany, aiming to start production in 2023–2024. The aim was to start production at 16 GWh, and increase it to 24 GWh. In May 2020, Volkswagen announced that it would build the factory largely on its own, and invest 450 million euros in the construction.[5] On 16 July 2020, it was announced that Northvolt and BMW had signed a deal of 2 billion euros, for Northvolt to deliver batteries starting from 2024.[13] The deal with BMW was cancelled in June 2024 because of Northvolt not being able to deliver on time.[14] In 2019, Volkswagen invested 900 million Euros in Northvolt amounting to a share of 20% and a seat on the board.[15][16]
On 30 July 2020, a €350 million loan was issued to Northvolt by the European Investment Bank with the backing of the European Union's InnovFin programme to build a demonstration line for a new type of battery which it started producing at the end of 2019. As part of the Investment Plan for Europe, Northvolt received a $350 million loan for its Skellefteå factory from the EIB, using the guarantee of the European Fund for Strategic Investments.[4]
News website EURACTIV stated in an article that "Northvolt is quickly building a reputation as the EU’s go-to company for home-grown batteries."[9] On the same day, it was announced that Northvolt had been issued loans amounting to US$1.6 billion from a consortium of commercial banks, pension funds and other financial institutions.[17]
On 22 August 2023, Northvolt raised $1.2 billion amid plans to open a battery plant in Canada.[18] In December 2023, a classified interim report uncovered by Dagens industri showed that the company in the first nine months of 2023 performed with a net loss of about $1 billion (SEK 11 billion).[19] In January 2024 Northvolt raised another $5 billion through green lending.[20][21]
In 2024, the Northvolt factory in Sweden garnered nationwide media attention for four deaths among its employees. All within a few months. All four, seemingly healthy, had died outside of their work shifts.[22] With the third death Swedish police authorities launched a criminal investigation. Northvolt welcomed the investigation and said the incidents were "tragic", but also stressed that the factory employs over 5000 people, implying that the deaths are not as statistically significant as they may appear at first glance.[23][24] To date, no cause of death has been determined, and no causality has been found, but a leading Swedish toxicologist has argued for closure of the plant for a more thorough investigation to be conducted.[25][26]
On September 23, 2024, Northvolt announced that the company would implement extensive staff reductions. A total of 1,600 employees would be affected by the layoffs, distributed across 1,000 positions in Skellefteå, 400 in Västerås, and 200 in Stockholm. In conjunction with this, Northvolt also announced that the expansion of Northvolt Ett would be discontinued. The Northvolt Labs project in Västerås was paused, but the company would retain the fundamental platforms to enable continued product development.[27][28]
On November 21, 2024, Northvolt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. The company stated it ran out of cash entirely and only had enough for them to operate one more week. The company secured $100 million in financing and will operate normally throughout the procedure.[29]
Locations
The headquarters of Northvolt are in Stockholm.
Research and Development
Its center for research and development is situated in Västerås, Sweden.[17]
Construction of the first factory in Skellefteå, June 2021
Northvolt Ett
Northvolt Ett (swedish: "one") is a gigafactory located in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, with a goal output of 60GWh.[clarification needed][30] When finished, it would be the largest factory in Swedish history, possibly creating challenges for newcomers and the existing community.[31] The nearby hydropower plant of Skellefteå Kraft provides renewable energy for the factory.[32] Nearby mines in Sweden and Finland can supply some of the needed metals like nickel and cobalt.[33]
In late December 2021, the company announced that Northvolt Ett, with 500 workers, had produced its first batch of prismatic cells, as part of its machinery commissioning process.[citation needed]
Factory completion and initial customer shipments were achieved in 2022.[34] The company projects battery output of 16 gigawatt hours (GWh)[clarification needed], enough for ~300,000 EVs, by 2024. With full production lines and staffing, the plant expects to produce 60 GWh[how often?] of batteries with 3,000 employees.[32][35]
For the first three quarters of 2023 the factory output was 79,8MWh of battery storage equivalent.[36]
On September 23, 2024, Northvolt announced that the expansion of Northvolt Ett would be discontinued.[37]
On October 8, 2024, Northvolt announced that its subsidiary Northvolt Ett Expansion AB filed an application for bankruptcy at the District Court of Stockholm.[38]
Northvolt Dwa
Northvolt Dwa (Polish: two) is located in Gdansk, Poland. It started operations in 2019. This factory not only produces batteries, but also develops solutions for excavators, mining machines, energy storage and forklifts.[citation needed]
Northvolt Drei
At the beginning of 2022, the company announced its intention to build another battery factory in Dithmarschen near Heide. The new plant, which is to provide work for about 3000 employees, is to produce battery cells with a capacity of about 60 GWh per year.[39] The project would be according to Northvolt be powered by “almost 100% renewable energy”.[39] In January 2024, the Northvolt Drei gigafactory was green lit following €902 million funding approval from the European Commission under the TCTF aid initiative and approval by local municipalities.[40] The cell production plant was scheduled to go into operation in 2025. However, the project was put on hold partly because of the high electricity prices in Germany.[39]
Northvolt Volvo Cars Joint Venture "Novo Energy"
In the vicinity of the Volvo plant near Gothenburg, Northvolt is building a new lithium-ion battery factory that will supply not only Volvo but also the Polestar brand. Production is scheduled to start in 2025.[41][42] On October 30th, 2024, Volvo Cars announced to invoke its redemption rights to acquire Northvolt’s shares in NOVO Energy. According to Volvo Cars, Northvolt has not fulfilled its financing obligations.[43]
Northvolt Fem
Northvolt Fem (Swedish: five) is the second gigafactory planned by Northvolt in Sweden. It is to be built on the site of the Kvarnsveden paper mill in Borlänge. The patch was purchased from Stora Enso and is Northvolt's first converted factory site. It is scheduled to open in 2024. The factory is designed to have a peak capacity of more than 100 gigawatt hours of cathode material. Northvolt has at the same time entered in a development agreement with Stora Enso who provides lignin-based hard coal from sustainably managed forests as anode material for Northvolt.[44]
Northvolt Six
In the fall of 2023, Northvolt announced a new battery gigafactory to be built near Montreal, Canada.[7][45] The factory plans to start production in 2026, with the objective of attaining full operational capacity of 60GWh by 2028.[citation needed]
Northvolt Cuberg (Advanced Technology Group)
2021 Northvolt acquired the Northern California start-up Cuberg. The group focuses on incremental improvements in lithium-ion technology to enable applications such as aviation.[44] Cuberg had spun out of Stanford University in 2015 [46] and has production facilities in San Leandro. Cuberg after third party testing has claimed to have achieved a near doubling of Lithium-metal cell cycle life.[47][46]
Northvolt together with Galp has selected the port city of Setúbal as location for its advanced lithium conversion unit.[48]
