Update: 29.9.23. Northvolt confirmed it has phased out trading links with Nornickel and is sourcing supplies from countries like Canada, Australia and Finland, and has a stream from recycling.
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Swedish lithium-ion battery maker Northvolt has defended its trading links with polluting Russian mining company Nornickel, and said it is working to secure environmental improvements.
Siberia-based Nornickel was fined $2 billion for a leak of 20,000 tonnes of diesel into a local river in May 2020, turning it red. It was dubbed the Arctic’s “worst environmental catastrophe”.
The company, which claims to be world’s largest high-grade nickel and palladium producer, is also criticised for high sulphur emissions into the atmosphere, which has killed trees and led to protests from the local indigenous population.
Northvolt claims to make “the world’s greenest battery” and has put itself in a difficult position, according to Professor Niklas Zandén of the University of Gothenburg.
He told the Swedish national broadcaster SR in a programme called “Green batteries and dirty metals” (in Swedish, ed.): “They’ve put themselves in a difficult situation by choosing a supplier who for a long time has been accused of a load of different problems relating to social and environmental aspects.”
Despite many critical questions, Northvolt has continued its links, which in itself raises questions, the business professor said.
Frederic Hauge of Norwegian environmental group Bellona said: “You cannot claim to be the world’s most environmentally friendly company if you buy dirty nickel and cobalt from Russia.”
Nornickel has been asked to comment on its environmental impact and what it is doing about it.
Northvolt’s environmental manager Emma Nehrenheim told the programme: “We agree there are local challenges and that’s why we thought it was incredibly important that we can play a part and have an influence as a new market until they have these environmental improvements.”
Northvolt said it began engaging with Russian mining in 2018–19, and found Nornickel interesting as it offered “clear traceability of materials, from mine to refinery to Northvolt – something which few other suppliers could provide.”
It said it is seeking to reduce its dependence on Russian miners following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Indonesia is not viable for environmental reasons. It wants to see European mining accelerate and accuses the European Union of being vague and proposing a slow mining permitting regime of 24 months. This makes new mining a distant reality, it said.
Northvolt notes Russian battery minerals have not been sanctioned by the European Union.
According to the OECD, in 2022 Russia held 11% of global nickel production and 15% of world nickel exports. It is a major supplier of nickel to Finland, with an 84% import share. It also exports nickel to the Netherlands, Ukraine and China, with 34%, 23%, and 13% import shares respectively.
