Northvolt
Canvas Category OEM : Electrical Equipment
Northvolt was founded to enable the transition to a decarbonized future by establishing a sustainable battery industry. To do this, we’re pioneering a new approach to battery manufacturing rooted in a commitment to fossil-free energy, sustainable sourcing of raw materials and recycling. Building the world’s greenest battery is no easy task, but with passionate problem-solvers from around the world, we strive to set a new benchmark for sustainability in the battery industry. Want to join us in building a cleaner world? Find your challenge at northvolt.com/career
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These Battery Startups Think They Can Succeed Where Northvolt Failed
Lyten currently provides 25% greater energy density than top-of-the-line lithium-ion batteries, Norman told me. The company expects that soon, it will be able to offer twice the energy density at half the material cost. Lyten’s tech relies upon a so-called supermaterial, three-dimensional graphene, which it’s developing in-house. This gets combined with sulfur in the cathode to form a more conductive and stable composite material.
Zeta thinks it’s already found the ticket, though. It claims to offer three times the energy density of traditional lithium-ion at less than half the price. While Melissa Schilling, Zeta’s head of strategic marketing and innovation, couldn’t reveal much about Zeta’s proprietary cathode, she did tell me that it’s made of a sulfur-carbon polymer that eliminates the dreaded polysulfide shuttle effect (a claim that’s been externally verified) and allows for greater electrical conductivity. The company’s lithium-metal anode is made of carbon nanotubes, a.k.a. tiny cylinders composed of carbon atoms. The nanotubes help improve the anode’s stability, thus increasing energy density compared with traditional graphite anodes while also preventing the formation of dendrites, tiny projections on the anode that can cause the battery to break down.
One of the main ways that Northvolt ultimately went wrong, Norman and Schilling agreed, is that it tried to scale standard lithium-ion tech too quickly in a price-sensitive environment. “They kind of went right to these 10, 20, 30 gigawatt-hour facilities,” Norman told me. “As they tried to scale those, they ran into a lot of manufacturing challenges and just the cost and time of trying to learn that on these huge facilities kind of bit them.” Schilling told me she thinks QuantumScape, a manufacturer of solid-state batteries for EVs, is running the same risk.
Goldman Sachs takes $900mn hit on Northvolt investment
Funds managed by Goldman Sachs will write off almost $900mn after Swedish battery maker Northvolt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week.
Goldman’s private equity funds have at least $896mn in exposure to Northvolt, making the US bank its second-largest shareholder. They will write that down to zero at the end of the year, according to letters to investors seen by the Financial Times.
Volkswagen is Northvolt’s largest shareholder with a 21 per cent stake and is likely to be nursing similar losses. It is listed as Northvolt’s second-largest creditor in the Chapter 11 filing due to a $355mn convertible note.
🇩🇪 Northvolt chooses Germany over US for new EV battery plant with €902M aid
The European Commission to approve a €902 million German state aid measure to retain Germany as the location of Northvolt’s new EV battery manufacturing plan. In line with the Green Deal Industrial Plan, the Commission approved the aid under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework. Without the funds, Northvolt would establish its plant in the United States, with the backing offered through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Northvolt in new sodium-ion battery breakthrough
Northvolt has made a breakthrough in a new battery technology used for energy storage that the Swedish industrial start-up claims could minimise dependence on China for the green transition. Northvolt says it validated a sodium-ion battery at the critical level of 160 watt hours per kilogramme, an energy density close to that of the type of lithium batteries typically used in energy storage. Lithium batteries used in electric cars have an energy density of up to about 250-300Wh per kg while those typically deployed in energy storage have about 180Wh per kg.
“It is quite key to be the first ex-China player to have a sodium-ion product validated for energy storage,” said Iola Hughes, research manager at battery consultancy Rho Motion.
🔋 Northvolt raises $1.2 billion convertible note as first energy storage systems are produced at Northvolt Dwa
As Northvolt assembles its first battery systems at Northvolt Dwa in Poland, the company today announced the raising of $1.2 billion to finance plans for its further European and North American expansion. The funding is an extension of the $1.1 billion convertible note signed in July 2022, and has attracted investment from funds labeled dark green in accordance with Article 9 of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). Leading the extension are the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), BlackRock and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), as well as long-term financial partner OMERS, making its third major investment in the company.
ABB expands partnership with Northvolt to electrify the world’s largest battery recycling facility
ABB and Northvolt are further strengthening their long-standing collaboration in the field of green batteries, an increasingly critical part in the ongoing energy transition. Since 2017, ABB has already delivered key electrification and automation equipment to power Northvolt Ett gigafactory for lithium-ion batteries in Sweden. This partnership is now being expanded to include battery recycling with ABB providing process electrification to power the world’s largest battery recycling facility, Revolt Ett, being established by Northvolt in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. Financial details were not disclosed. The order was booked in the first quarter of 2023.