Northvolt raises $1.6 billion; to develop first gigafactory by 2021

Swedish battery manufacturing company, Northvolt yesterday announced that it has raised $1.6 billion through debt financing provided by a consortium of pension funds, commercial banks, and public financial institutions.

The latest round of debt financing initiated by the company for the development of factories and R&D investments takes the total amount raised to over $3 billion as of July 2020.

Northvolt, to date, has raised over $3 billion in equity and debt to support the development of two lithium-ion battery gigafactories and investments in R&D, industrialization, and recycling, Northvolt said in its official statement.

"The momentum for electrification is stronger than ever. Our customers need large volumes of high-quality batteries with a low CO2 footprint, and Europe must build a fully regionalized value chain to support them,” said Peter Carlsson, co-founder and CEO, Northvolt.

The company has a target to capture 25 percent market share in Europe by 2030 with 50 percent of raw material secured from recycled batteries.

The company confirmed that in addition to yesterday's $1.6 billion debt raise, Northvolt has raised over $3 billion in equity and debt to support the development of two gigafactories for lithium-ion battery cell production: Northvolt Ett in Skellefteå, Sweden, and Northvolt Zwei in Salzgitter, Germany. Northvolt is also making significant investments in battery cell technology, process development, and recycling at the recently established industrialization factory, Northvolt Labs, in Västerås, Sweden, which produced its first battery cells in late 2019. 

“The fact that we have these world-class financial institutions supporting a new industry in Europe is a clear sign of where the markets are headed and the opportunity that brings for sustainable projects," said Alexander Hartman, CFO, Northvolt. "This new industrial landscape will need significant investments over the coming years.”