Northvolt

The company was founded as SGF Energy in 2015 by Peter Carlsson (now chief executive), who was formerly an executive at Tesla Motors[2][3][1] In 2017, it changed name to Northvolt.[4] When the company was founded, it was founded with the aim to supply the automotive industry with electric vehicle batteries.[2][5] In May 2019, the European Investment Bank offered a loan of 3,5 billion SEK (about 350 million Euros).[2] Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commissioner for Energy at the time, said that "I welcome the significant support proposed by the EIB to Northvolt gigafactory as a stepping-stone towards building a competitive, sustainable and innovative value chain, with battery cells manufactured at scale, here, in Europe."[3]

In June of the same year, companies such as BMW, Volkswagen, Goldman Sachs and Folksam declared that they would contribute with finances. In total, the investments amounted to 1 billion US dollars, 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.[6] The company started building a battery factory in Skellefteå, Sweden, with the aim to start production of electric vehicle batteries in 2021.[2] 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.[2] 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.[7]

On 30 July 2020, a 350 million euro 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 will receive a $350 million loan for its Skellefteå factory from EIB, using the guarantee of the European Fund for Strategic Investments.[1]

EURACTIV stated in an article that "Northvolt is quickly building a reputation as the EU’s go-to company for home-grown batteries."[5] On the same day, it was announced that Northvolt had been issued loans amounting to 1,6 billion US dollar from a consortium of commercial banks, pension funds and other financial institutions.[8]

Northvolt is building a factory in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, and another one in Salzgitter, Germany, as part of Northvolt's plan to increase production capacity of 32 gigawatt-hours by 2023.[1] Its headquarters for research and development is in Västerås, Sweden.[8]

Construction of the first factory in Skellefteå, January 2020.

The opening of a factory in Skellefteå was said to potentially transform subarctic Sweden, and dramatically change the city. It was however said that it could be a potential risk with shortage of qualified labor in the region.[9] The factory will be the largest in Swedish history creating challenges for newcomers and the existing community.[10]