Norwegian battery recycler Hydrovolt announced the appointment of Ole-Christen Enger as its new CEO. He assumes the role in the autumn, following on from Peter Qvarfordt, who is leaving the company to start his own battery recycling business.
The company said Enger joins Hydrovolt – a joint venture between Norwegian aluminium and energy company Norsk Hydro and Swedish battery maker Northvolt – from the position as VP, head of finance and controlling at Hydro’s recycling business unit. He has held that position since 2020.
The company said Enger brings important experience from the recycling business. Hydrovolt claims to operate Europe’s largest recycling facility for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Emma Nehrenheim, chair of the Hydrovolt board, said: “Hydrovolt has attracted some of the best people in this industry, is backed by long-term industrial investors, and is well positioned for international growth.” Nehrenheim is also chief environmental officer at Northvolt.
Last month, Hydrovolt received a Nkr15.3 million ($1.4 million) grant from Norwegian government agency Enova to develop a discharge and dismantling technology for batteries. Helge Fredheim, project lead at the discharge and dismantling site in Fredrikstad said: “Automation is a prerequisite for achieving profitable operations as the volumes of used EV batteries will increase significantly in a few years.
“Additionally, we will be able to store the energy from the discharging process of the battery in battery banks and utilise it for our own consumption, as well as distribute excess energy to the local power grid.”
Hydrovolt said on average there is approximately 50 kWh of residual energy in the battery pack being recycled. A planned intake of 100 battery packs per day could amount to around 5 MWh per day.
