Our vision
The future needs high quality, green batteries. And it needs lots of them.
Electrification and storage are the keys to a carbon neutral society. 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.
The plan
We enable this future by building Europe’s largest lithium-ion battery factory
Until now, the pace of change has been slow, mainly due to the high cost of batteries. With a unique opportunity to develop an entire industry from the ground up, we have set out to change this.
Scale and integration
By standardizing and greatly increasing the scale of production we’ll provide affordable high quality batteries. In addition, raw materials will be responsibly and efficiently sourced as close to the mines as possible. Especially from our mineral-rich Nordic peninsula.
Green powered
Battery production is energy intensive, especially the early stage material preparation processes. By locating in the Nordics, we can power the factory and our batteries with clean, carbon free, low cost electricity.
Cutting edge
By teaming up with the best talent, researchers, partners and investors and with cutting edge technology, we are building a truly smart factory.
Circular flow
Giving a second life to valuable materials is part of our mission. Recycling is at the heart of our business.
Team
We have a mission
We’re all in for a giant societal transformation in how energy is produced, stored and used
Knowing what we know and where we see the future of transportation and energy heading, we have a mission to make this happen. And to make it happen as quickly and sustainably as possible.
Meet the team
Stockholm, March 7, 2017
Press release
SGF Energy rebrands to Northvolt and presents its plan to build Europe’s largest battery factory
SGF Energy AB, announces it’s re-branding
into Northvolt AB (as of today).
A growing consciousness of the urgency to mitigate the effects
of climate change is accelerating the transition to a fossil
fuel free society. An increased use of batteries is one of the
cornerstones in this transition, enabling massive conversion to
sustainable transportation as well as a deep integration of
renewable sources in the energy mix.
Experts suggest that when the cost of lithium-ion batteries
drops below US$100 per kWh, a number of user-sectors will
reach an inflection point where storage technologies become
competitive. This will quickly lead to a situation where
global demand of battery cells is going to outpace existing
and planned production capacity.
“We foresee a major deficit of lithium ion batteries within
a few years, with limited current and planned capacity in
place in Europe. There is a market window open. We have a
solid business plan in place that enables us to produce high
quality batteries at an affordable cost”, says Peter Carlsson,
CEO at Northvolt.
Northvolt is building the next generation battery factory.
Our plan includes a new concept inspired by the semiconductor
industry, focusing on: scale, customized customer solutions,
vertical integration and highly controlled manufacturing. The
execution is fundamentally different compared to current
battery production facilities.
Northvolt is dedicated to create a circular system, and has
the highest ambitions regarding life cycle management: our
approach covers cradle to grave. Building the factory in the
Nordic region, given its carbon free power base, will enable
us to rely on fossil free energy.
“This is a bold, very complex, but rational project. Compared
with Asia and the US, Europe is behind in the battery
industrialization. With societal ambitions when it comes to
growth and sustainability, action is needed. The project
resonates commercially, since the demand from automotive and
energy storage sectors will be huge ” says Paolo Cerruti,
COO of Northvolt.
Electrification and renewable energy storage are the keys to
a carbon neutral society. Batteries will enable this 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 and enabling this inflection point.
The success of this undertaking is grounded in the unique
competencies of the Northvolt team. It comprises senior
executives with previous experience in leading positions at
Tesla Motors, Sony Ericsson, Panasonic, ABB, Renault-Nissan
among other. We’re now recruiting a core team of 30+
world-class experts in Stockholm.
In addition, Northvolt has formed a strong governance with
advisors that reflect the ambitions and needs of the company.
Through Tom Johnstone, Bo Normark, Andreas Regnell, Hans
Stråberg and Anders Ullberg, we access outstanding energy-
and industrial expertise. Reinhold Geijer and Harald Mix add
financial sector expertise, and Anders Kempe, Diego Pavía and
Anders Sundström add insights and experiences from European
and Swedish politics and policy making.
Funding agreements from companies and organizations such as
Stena, Vattenfall, InnoEnergy (European innovation ecosystem
for sustainable energy), The Swedish Energy Agency and Vinnova
(Sweden’s innovation agency) are in place. This support,
together with private investments by the founders, lays the
foundation for the first phase. Additional external funding
will be needed at a later stage. The
32+ GWh production site will require a €4+ Bn investment over
a period of six years. Our aim is to start construction in
the second part of 2018 to enable volume manufacturing by
the end of 2020.
“We have a bold and ambitious business plan in place and I’m
extremely happy with the strong support we’ve got so far from
both the public and the private sector, including organizations
like Stena, Vattenfall, InnoEnergy, The Swedish Energy Agency
and Vinnova.” says Peter Carlsson.
Northvolt is currently focusing on building the team and
technical partnerships; detailing a blueprint for product
processes and building customer partnerships.
The company has, in collaboration with Business Sweden,
initiated the site-selection process. Northvolt’s ambition
is to decide where the factory will be built during mid-2017.
For the region selected for the construction, this is a unique
opportunity to develop an innovative industry cluster of
expertise around batteries and energy storage. A wide range
of conditions are considered in the site-selection process.
Northvolt is only considering municipalities that can offer
sites with at least 500 000-700 000 m2 ready for ground
preparation with a complete industrial zoning permit in place.
Power supply to the site must have an exceptionally strong
grid connection.
Additional information can be found on www.northvolt.com
Press contact: Maria Stern +46 70 571 04 17