Swedish battery maker Northvolt is conducting a strategic review that could lead to job losses as the company aims to cut costs and downsize ambitious expansion plans, Reuters reported on Monday.
“No final decisions have been made on the exact nature of any (workforce) size changes,” Northvolt said in a statement to Reuters. The company has decided Suspension of production of cathode active materials at the Skelleftea plant in Sweden, which is said to require Northvolt to import materials to assemble lithium-ion battery cells.
Drawing of Northvolt Six battery manufacturing plant in Quebec, Canada
Opening in 2021, the Skelleftea factory is Northvolt’s first battery factory. Reuters reported that the company has yet to reach its planned production capacity. Northvolt has about 3,500 employees, according to its 2023 annual report. Northvolt has a total of about 5,000 employees, Reuters reported.
Reuters reported that Northvolt planned to start talks with “potential partners and investors” regarding its planned factory in Gdansk, Poland, but remained committed to previously discussed new factories in Germany, Canada and Sweden. The latter is joint venture with Volvo announced in 2022, originally scheduled to open in 2025. But all pending projects are subject to delays as Northvolt reevaluates financial situation.
Artistic rendering of planned Volvo and Northvolt battery plant in Gothenburg, Sweden
Northvolt is one of the startups aiming to create a local EV battery industry for Europe, but has recently encountered some setbacks. In June BMW has cancelled a battery supply agreement estimated to be worth about $2 billion. On Friday, Northvolt also announced that it had canceled plans to build a second cathode active material factory in Borlange, Sweden, as part of an ongoing strategic review.
Last month, Northvolt also announced that it had closes an R&D center in CaliforniaThe company inherited it when it acquired Cuberg in 2021. The California R&D center is working on lithium metal battery technology, work that Northvolt said will be transferred to the company’s main R&D center in Sweden.
