EIB to support Europe’s largest battery factory
The Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a loan request from Northvolt AB. The financing, a facility of up to EUR 52.5 million, is projected to be supported by InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators’ Energy Demonstration Projects facility, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments.
The parties will now finalise negotiations and, after signature, Northvolt is expected to begin construction of its demonstration line in the coming months. This facility will serve to show the commercial viability of the concept and to qualify and industrialize products together with Northvolt’s customers. The produced batteries are targeted for use in transport, stationary storage, and industrial and consumer applications.
The demonstration site will also comprise a research facility and in total the Västerås operations will employ between 300-400 people. The launch of the demonstration plant is a key step towards the establishment of Northvolt’s large-scale li-ion battery factory in Skellefteå, eventually targeting a production of 32 GWh worth of battery capacity annually.
“The Bank is fulfilling one of its main purposes by supporting this type of research and development in Europe. With the growing momentum of clean energy and electric mobility, batteries will become ever more important. Europe is currently lagging behind when it comes to battery manufacturing and this highly innovative and strategic project deserves European backing to fill that gap,” Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-president of the EIB, commented.
Europe is moving rapidly towards electrification. Northvolt’s objective is to build the world’s greenest battery to enable the transition. With the support from the European Investment Bank and the European Union, we are now one step closer to establishing a competitive European battery manufacturing value chain,” Peter Carlsson, CEO of Northvolt, added.
“Batteries are a strategic component of our competitiveness and to capture a new European market worth EUR 250 billion annually as of 2025, we need to act fast. I therefore welcome the decision taken by the EIB, which will help this industry-led project take off the ground. It is important to pool all available instruments at the national and European level, such as InnovFin. The European Battery Alliance will continue supporting prospective partnerships throughout the value chain,” Vice-president of the European Commission in charge of the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič stated.
“I am happy to see EU loans enabling real market-creating innovation. With 40% of all patents for renewable technologies belonging to European companies, the EU is undoubtedly leading the fight against climate change. But many of Europe’s great innovations in clean energy technologies end up being produced elsewhere, meaning that others make much more money out of European innovations than we do. Today’s decision will help to correct this,” EC Commissioner Carlos Moedas, in charge of Research, Science and Innovation, said.
Electrification and renewable energy storage are the keys to a carbon neutral society. Batteries will enable the transition. The auto industry alone will need batteries in huge numbers to replace fossil fuels with electricity. The ability to store energy is also crucial to free the world’s energy generation and distribution from coal, oil and natural gas. Northvolt accelerates this transition by building Europe’s largest battery factory.
