The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a $350 million loan agreement to support Northvolt’s hopes of Europe’s first home-grown lithium-ion battery gigafactory.
The funding follows the EIB supporting the demonstration line at Northvolt Labs in 2018, which produced its first battery cells in late 2019.
The financing is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
The gigafactory is under construction in Skellefteå in northern Sweden.
European Commissioner vice-president in charge of the European Battery Alliance, Maroš Šefčovič, said: “Northvolt has been among our frontrunners, set to build Europe’s first home-grown Gigafactory for lithium-ion battery cells, with a minimal carbon footprint. By supporting this state-of-the-art project, we also confirm our resolve to boost Europe’s resilience and strategic autonomy in key industries and technologies.”
Northvolt Ett will serve as Northvolt’s primary production site, hosting active material preparation, cell assembly, recycling and auxiliaries.
The factory will initially produce 16GWh of battery capacity per year for the automotive, grid storage, and industrial and portable markets. The plant will be scaled up at a later stage to potentially 40GWh.
Among Northvolt’s industrial partners and customers are: ABB, BMW Group, Scania, Siemens, Vattenfall, Vestas and the Volkswagen Group.
Last month, Northvolt also received a $1.6 billion (€1.4billion) financing package from European firms PFA, Danica Pension and APG as part of a consortium of global investors including banks and public financial institutions. Of that money, Danica Pension, the pensions subsidiary of Danske Bank, has invested around DKK837 million ($132 million), and PFA has invested a similar amount.
The financing takes the form of a subordinated loan.
