Swedish battery company Northvolt announced initial measures from its strategic review – including mothballing, job losses and seeking outside capital.
The scale of job losses to match a reduced scale of operations is yet to be decided and constructive discussions are ongoing with unions, it said.
The measures reflect “a challenging macroeconomic environment”, it added and a subsequent reassessment of Northvolt’s near-term priorities.
Peter Carlsson, CEO and co-founder of Northvolt, said in a statement on 9 September: “With the strategic review now underway, we are having to take some tough actions for the purpose of securing the foundations of Northvolt’s operations to improve our financial stability and strengthen our operational performance. While conditions at this time are challenging, there remains no question that the global transition towards electrification – and the long-term outlook for cell manufacturers, including Northvolt – is strong.”
The company intends to:
- put the Northvolt Ett upstream 1 cathode active material production (CAM) facility in Skellefteå into “care and maintenance”
- terminate the Northvolt Fem CAM programme in Borlänge, Sweden. Agreement to sell the site has been reached
- enter into discussions with potential partners and investors over Northvolt Systems, including Northvolt Dwa, its battery systems and packs production facility in Poland
- merge its Californian subsidiary Cuberg and lithium metal technology into Northvolt Labs, Sweden.
Northvolt said it remains committed to Novo (Sweden), Northvolt Drei (Germany) and Northvolt Six (Canada), and is in close dialogue with the key stakeholders involved. Potential revisions to the timelines of these projects will be confirmed during the autumn, along with any further cost-savings, it said. Work continues on all sites.
It intends to continue ramping up the first phase of the Northvolt Ett gigafactory in Sweden and will continue to leverage its Northvolt Labs R&D facility.
Photo: The Northvolt Dwa battery systems and packs production facility in Poland seeks new capital. Northvolt
