Car maker Volkswagen is to invest some €900m in joint battery activities with Swedish battery cell producer Northvolt AB.
Volkswagen is initially acquiring about 20% of the shares in Northvolt and will have one seat on the Board of Directors, subject to approval under antitrust legislation.
Furthermore, a 50/50 joint venture to build a 16 GWh battery cell factory in Europe is planned during the course of this year. It is intended to locate the factory in Lower Saxony (Salzgitter) if the preconditions for this are fulfilled.
Construction of the production facility is scheduled to start, at the earliest, in 2020. Battery cell production for Volkswagen is slated to commence around the end of 2023/beginning of 2024.
Under its electrification strategy, the Volkswagen Group’s annual capacity requirements in Europe alone from 2025 are in excess of 150 GWh – demand on a similar scale is expected in Asia.
Founded in 2016, Northvolt is a supplier of sustainable, high-quality battery cells and systems. The company is currently setting up pilot production of battery cells and a battery cell production facility with an initial capacity of 16 GWh in Sweden.
Apart from Volkswagen AG, Northvolt’s industrial partners and customers include Scania, ABB, BMW, Siemens, Vattenfall and Vestas.
FinSMEs
14/06/2019