Briefing – VW ups its battery game with Northvolt

Swedish lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cell manufacturer Northvolt has announced an growth to its present business system in Europe. The corporation is gearing up to become 1 of the primary makers of battery cells in the continent and presently has two massive-scale creation tasks in the pipeline.

Final 7 days, Northvolt announced that it had secured a $two.75 billion investment round. The round incorporated hard cash from investment cash 4 to one Investments and OMERS, along with revenue offered by present buyers Goldman Sachs and Volkswagen. The German automobile large, in distinct, is comprehended to have offered a further $620 million in this investment round, which stands on prime of the around $one.one billion it has presently invested in the battery corporation.

The revenue will be applied to grow Northvolt’s prepared capability at its principal battery creation facility in Skelleftea, Sweden. This factory was envisioned to start off manufacturing cells later in 2021 with a plan to sooner or later ramp up creation to about 40GWh for each yr. Nevertheless, next the new investment, capability at the plant is now envisioned to reach as superior as 60GWh – more than enough for about 1 million battery electrical cars (BEVs) assuming they use an typical 60kWh battery pack. Volkswagen promises that up to 40GWh of this capability is meant for its possess types, with the remainder likely to other European automakers this kind of as Volvo.

Northvolt’s expanded Swedish factory is 1 of two confirmed gigafactories that will offer Volkswagen with cells for its future BEV types. The second facility is due to start out creation in 2025 and will be based mostly in Salzgitter, Germany. Initially, this was likely to be a fifty-fifty joint enterprise amongst the two but Volkswagen opted to get out Northvolt’s ownership of the facility right before it begins functions. Early strategies would have seen this facility grow to 16GWh for each yr of capability but, with VW’s BEV strategies in ascendence, this has now been pushed to a prepared 40GWh of capability – more than enough for about 660,000 cars for each yr assuming each individual uses an typical 60kWh battery pack.

Volkswagen has confirmed that it expects to commission a overall of 6 gigafactories in Europe by 2030 to assistance its battery electrical auto creation ambitions. While the two announced so considerably have been prepared in cooperation with Northvolt, Volkswagen has presently proven offer relationships with SK Innovation and LG Vitality Answer – the two of which have announced ambitions of going into the European industry – so it’s feasible that the remaining 4 amenities could come in cooperation with 1 of people providers.

Northvolt has now secured a overall of $six.five billion of investment and has elevated its prepared overall battery capability to 150GWh by 2030. Thinking about 100GWh is accounted for throughout the two announced factories, that still leaves a different 50GWh of prepared creation so considerably unaccounted for, suggesting Northvolt is probable to announce at least 1 much more massive-scale European battery factory right before that date. The corporation has secured $27 billion of confirmed battery orders at this position, with a bit much more than half ($14 billion) coming from the Volkswagen Group.

In th underneath desk, we supply a breakdown of main lithium-ion factory tasks in Europe tracked by GlobalData’s venture databases, such as finished and proposed amenities.

 

Name	Locale	Position	Completion	Potential	Notes
Northvolt – NorthvoltLab and Battery Plant	Skelleftea Sweden	Less than development	2021 Q4	Up to 60GW/h.	A proposed plant with a prepared 60GWh creation capability along with R&D amenities.
LG Chem – Wroclaw Electric powered Auto Battery Plant	Wroclaw Poland	Less than development	2022 Q4	Presently about 15GWh but investment could strengthen this to 65GWh.	LG Chem promises that this factory will be the most significant EV battery factory in Europe with capability for thirty,000 battery packs for each thirty day period.
CATL – Erfurt lithium-Ion Battery Plant	Thuringia Germany	Less than development	2022 Q2	Original creation will reach 14GWh with the selection to grow to 24GWh.	A proposed a hundred and ten,000m2 factory and distribution heart from China’s CATL to create Li-ion batteries close to its European clients.
SK Innovation – Komarom Lithium Battery Plant II	Komarom Hungary	Less than development	2022 Q1	Intended to incorporate 9.8GWh of capability to SKI’s present 7.5GWh.	A second battery facility to improve output further than SKI’s present Komarom factory.
SK Innovation – Lithium-Ion Battery Separator Plant	Silesian Voivodeship Poland	Less than development	2021 Q3	About 340m m2 of lithium-ion battery separators and 130m m2 of ceramic coated separators.	A supporting plant for SKI’s functions in the location that specializes in production Li-ion battery separators.
Umicore – Nysa Cathode Content Plant	Opole Voivodeship Poland	Less than development	2020 Q4	Not nonetheless disclosed.	A facility to exclusively manufacture cathode factors from mining large Umicore.
Britishvolt/AMTE – Bro Tathan Battery Mobile Plant	Vale of Glamorgan	Arranging	2027 Q4	Up to 30GWh.	A growing facility in Wales that will scale up as battery demand boosts. Potential could hit 30GWh by 2027.
VW/Northvolt – Salzgitter Battery Plant	Salzgitter	Arranging	2025 Q1	Up to 40GWh.	Initially a joint venture amongst VW and Northvolt. The former sooner or later bought out Northvolt’s share of the venture. Potential plan now as superior as 40GWh.
Stellantis/Full – EV Lithium-Ion Battery Pilot Plant	Nouvelle-Aquitaine	Arranging	2021 Q3	Pilot creation line in just an present Saft plant.	A joint enterprise amongst PSA and Saft, a Full affiliate, to increase Li-ion creation in France.
Stellantis/Full	Douvrin France	Arranging	2023 Q4	In between Douvrin and Kaiserslautern, Stellantis expects about 50GWh.	One more joint enterprise amongst Stellantis and Full. Stellantis is probable to be the primary purchaser, but it is trying to find contracts from other OEMs.
Stellantis	Kaiserslautern	Arranging	2025 Q4	In between Douvrin and Kaiserslautern, Stellantis expects about 50GWh.	Originally an Opel internet site. This facility was due to open up in 2024 but this has due to the fact been pushed again to the close of 2025.
Stellantis	Rome	In discussion	Likely just after 2025	No figure nonetheless but probable to be much more than 10GWh	Documented discussions amongst Stellantis and Rome recommend the OEM may get subsidies to open up an Italian battery cell production plant.
Toray – Nyergesújfalu Lithium-Ion Battery Separator Plant	Komarom Hungary	Arranging	2022 Q1	Somewhere around 200m m2 of battery separator film.	A plant exclusively developed to create battery separator movies, expanding Toray’s general separator capability by twenty%.
SK Innovation – Komarom EV Battery Plant	Komarom Hungary	Accomplished	2020 Q1	All-around 7.5GWh	A facility for European clients such as Daimler with capability of up to 7.5GWh for each yr.
Daimler – Kamenz Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturing facility II	Kamenz Germany	Accomplished	2018 Q4	No GWh figure specified but, amongst this and the Deutsche ACCUmotive plant, Daimler expects to offer 500,000 EVs for each yr.	A second facility to offer battery cells to Daimler, features a logistics section.
Deutsche ACCUmotive – Kamenz Lithium-Ion Battery Plant	Kamenz Germany	Accomplished	2018 Q2	As earlier mentioned. With the second Kamenz plant, it can create up to 500,000 packs for each yr.	A forty,000m2 production facility principally meant to offer Daimler with Li-ion cells for its EV types.
Robert Bosch – Eisenach Lithium-ion Batteries Facility	Thuringia Germany	Accomplished	2013 Q4	No GWh figure specified. Likely scaled-down than other individuals covered right here due to emphasis on 48V battery systems.	A Bosch facility manufacturing electrical factors such as 48V batteries for plug-in and moderate hybrid cars.
Bollore – Penn Carn Battery Plant	Bretagne France	Accomplished	2012 Q2	Up to one.5GWh now.	In between Bollore’s Penn Carn and Canadian battery facility, it has up to one.5GWh of Li-ion creation capability, as of 2019.
Tesla – Berlin Gigafactory	Berlin	Less than development	2022 Q2	All-around 100GWh with selection to improve if needed.	Tesla will develop cells in Germany along with opening a auto creation procedure in the nation. The line is prepared for about 100GWh of yearly capability but CEO Musk has advised it could mature to 250GWh if needed.