Northvolt’s First Lithium-ion Battery Cell
Swedish battery company Northvolt announced the new gigafactory Northvolt Ett has produced its first lithium-ion battery cell, making it the first European company to design and manufacture this kind of battery on the continent.
“Marking a new chapter in European industrial history, the cell is the first to have been fully designed, developed and assembled at a gigafactory by a homegrown European battery company,” Northvolt representatives said.
The first cell of Northvolt Ett represents a milestone which Northvolt has been working towards since the gigafactory was announced in 2017. The cell is of a prismatic cell format and came off the cell assembly line on the 28th of December 2021. Commissioning and upscaling of the factory will continue through into 2022, when the first commercial customer deliveries will be made.
“Today is a great milestone for Northvolt which the team has worked very hard to achieve. Of course, this first cell is only the beginning. Over the course of the coming years, we look forward to Northvolt Ett expanding its production capacity greatly to enable the European transition to clean energy,” Peter Carlsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Northvolt, said.
The battery cell was developed at Northvolt Labs, Northvolt’s industrialization factory in Västerås, Sweden, which has been in production since early 2020. In the coming years, production capacity at Northvolt Ett will increase towards 60 GWh per year to fulfil over $30 billion worth of contracts Northvolt has secured from key customers, including BMW, Fluence, Scania, Volkswagen, Volvo Cars and Polestar. To these customers in the automotive, industrial and energy storage sectors, Northvolt Ett will deliver cells of varying formats with commercial deliveries beginning in 2022.
Presently, Northvolt Ett in Skellefteå employs over 500 people, representing 56 nationalities.
Green batteries for a blue planet
Manufacturing with clean energy, Northvolt delivers batteries with an 80% lower carbon footprint compared to those made using coal energy.
A battery cell manufacturer at heart, Northvolt offers high-performance lithium-ion cells based around proprietary Lingonberry NMC chemistry available in cylindrical and prismatic formats.
Battery systems
Modular components and complete scalable battery systems based around Northvolt cells support virtually any battery powered application.
Modular building blocks for racks and packs, built with cylindrical or prismatic cells, Northvolt Voltblock is a high-density battery module for demanding industrial applications with high safety standards.
The Voltblock Cylindrical is a building block designed to construct battery packs with the highest sustainability and safety requirements in mind. With over 600 precision-soldered cells and compartmentalised to withstand the harshest conditions, this module enables you to create energy-dense, ruggedized solutions of any kind.
