Northvolt

Northvolt is a Swedish company aiming to mass-manufacture lithium-ion batteries for EVs, grid storage, and other industrial applications. Northvolt targets a 25% European market share by 2030.  

Northvolt commenced production at its first commercial factory in Skelleftea, Sweden, in December 2021. The annual capacity was expected to ramp up to 32 GWh by 2024, with the potential to expand to 60 GWh in the future. However, in October 2024, the company’s subsidiary Northvolt Ett Expansion filed for bankruptcy and suspended the expansion of its factory in Skelleftea, Sweden. Following this, in November 2024, the company and its subsidiaries voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

In August 2023, Northvolt began assembling energy storage systems at its new facility known as “Northvolt Dwa” in Gdańsk, Poland. In March 2024, the company began construction of its “Northvolt Drei” battery gigafactory in Germany. The facility is set to have an annual production capacity of 60 GWh, with plans to begin operations in 2026.

In November 2023, Northvolt launched a new sodium-ion battery that has an energy density of over 160 watt-hours per kilogram, making it more effective than traditional nickel, manganese, and cobalt (NMC) or iron phosphate (LFP) chemistries. 

Key customers and partnerships

As of March 2024, the company has secured over USD 55 billion in battery orders from a range of customers, including BMW, Fluence, Scania, Volvo Cars, and Volkswagen Group.

In July 2022, Northvolt signed a joint development agreement with Stora Enso to create a battery that contains an anode made from lignin-based hard carbon produced with sustainably produced wood from Nordic forests.

Funding and financials 

In January 2024, Northvolt secured USD 5 billion to expand its Northvolt Ett battery factory in northern Sweden, to support the expansion of Northvolt Ett's cathode production and cell manufacturing, as well as the expansion of the adjacent recycling plant, Revolt Ett. In November 2023, Northvolt raised CAD 200 million (~USD 150 million) in convertible debt from CDPQ, to facilitate the Northvolt Six sustainable battery gigafactory project in Québec. Previously, in August 2023, the company raised USD 1.2 billion in convertible notes to expand into Europe and North America. Prior to this, in June 2023, the company received a USD 400 million investment from the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) in the form of convertible loan notes. The funds were to be used for the company’s global expansion plans. In July 2022, Northvolt raised USD 1.1 billion to expand production in Europe.