Northvolt Lands $5 Billion for EV Battery Expansions

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Europe's leading homegrown electric vehicle (EV) battery maker, Northvolt (Stockholm, Sweden), continues its rapid expansion with news that it has raised the region's largest green loan of US$5 billion.

The money will be used to expand the company's first gigafactory in northern Sweden as well as fund the building of a battery-recycling plant, which is nearing commissioning, at the same site. The company said that the new debt includes refinancing of the US$1.6 billion debt package raised in July 2020, and has been raised on the back of long-term offtake contracts amounting to more than US$55 billion with leading automakers including BMW (Munich, Germany), Volkswagen AG (VW) (Wolfsburg, Germany) and Volvo Cars (Gothenburg, Sweden).

"This financing is a milestone for the European energy transition," said Peter Carlsson, co-founder and chief executive officer of Northvolt. "It will enable us to realize the full potential of Northvolt Ett and demonstrates that circular, sustainable business practices are fundamental to success in today's industry."

Northvolt only completed the construction of its first--and Europe's first homegrown--EV battery gigafactory in Skelleftea, Sweden, in January 2022. At full-scale production, Northvolt Ett has an annual capacity of 16 gigawatt-hours (GWh)--enough to power 250,000 cars. The goal is to double that output to 32 GWh sometime this year and to potentially expand to 60 GWh in the future. For additional information, see January 11, 2022, article - Europe's First EV Battery 'Gigafactory' Starts Production.

The new funding brings the company's war chest total to US$13 billion to enable its expansion in Europe and North America. These include existing and planned facilities such as Northvolt Ett (Skellefteå, Sweden), Northvolt Dwa (Gdansk, Poland), Northvolt Drei (Heide, Germany), Northvolt--Volvo Cars joint venture gigafactory 'NOVO' (Gothenburg, Sweden), Northvolt Fem (Borlänge, Sweden), Northvolt Cuberg (San Leandro, U.S.) and the recently announced Northvolt Six (Montreal, Canada). More than US$1 billion of the new funding was supplied by the European Union's banking arm, the European Investment Bank (EIB).

"We mean business when it comes to Europe's battery industry," explained European Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, who oversees the European Green Deal and the European Battery Alliance. "It is of strategic importance and a key battleground for global competitiveness. Northvolt, our battery pioneer, showcases that the EU has what it takes to build an innovative, sustainable and globally competitive battery ecosystem. I am proud of Northvolt's success story as well as the other 160 industrial projects taking shape across the entire value chain, while promoted under the European Battery Alliance. The EIB's role is indispensable. We need to be strategic, bold, agile."

Industrial Info is tracking 11 active Northvolt projects, with an investment value of almost US$12 billion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.

The latest funding boost comes a month after the company announced plans for its first plant in Germany. Its third gigafactory will be based in Germany's so-called "clean energy valley," at Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, in the north of the country, and cost an estimated US$3.3 billion. The Northvolt Drei plant's annual potential production capacity of 60 GWh will be enough for roughly 1 million EVs. Earlier this month, the European Commission (EC) approved a 902 million-euro (US$982 million) financial support package from the German government for the project.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).