Swedish giant Northvolt sets sights on global battery market dominance

Swedish company Northvolt is investing €4.5 billion ($4.9 billion) in a new battery cell plant near Heide in Schleswig-Holstein, following state funding approval and local permits. The plant, set to start production in 2026, will produce up to a million battery cells and create 3,000 jobs.

Positioned as a key project in Germany’s energy and transport transition, the facility will leverage the region’s abundant wind power. Northvolt aims to produce the “greenest battery in the world,” using purified effluent for cooling and potentially providing excess heat for a district heating grid in Heide.

Recently, in conversation with a news magazine, Anders Thor, Vice president of Communications and public affairs spoke of how they plan on building the future. Roughly $15 billion has been raised, consisting of $8 billion in equity, $6 billion in debt, and $1 billion in grants (excluding pending grants). The notion of ‘not failing’ is intrinsic to the company’s ethos, as reflected in the comprehensive production platform developed through these investments.

Unlike many competitors who took longer and incurred greater costs to build similar platforms, this encompasses R&D, customer programs, industrialization, and mass production. Leveraging key insights from the ramp-up of Northvolt Labs and Northvolt Ett, this platform forms the basis for swift scaling in Europe and North America.

Northvolt secures major investments

In the coming years, heavy investment and expansion will be sustained in collaboration with customers and partners, supported by a growing order book. These investments in a vertically integrated production model aim not only to match industry margins but also to enhance profitability through in-house cathode material production, battery systems development, and recycling.

As the fastest-growing battery producer in the Western world, with increasing demand for regionally produced, low-carbon footprint battery cells and systems, the company has attracted new commitments from esteemed global investors like Blackrock and CDPQ.