Northvolt’s new facility in Skelleftea, Sweden.
STOCKHOLM – Automobile manufacturer Volvo Cars and the battery Manufacturer Northvolt will build their joint battery plant in Gothenburg, western Sweden, the two companies said on Friday.
The new 50 gigawatt hour (GWh) plant will create up to 3,000 jobs and make battery cells specially developed for use by Volvo and Polestar companies based in Sweden said. Operations will begin in 2025.
The two companies said last year they would form a joint venture to develop batteries, including setting up a gigafactory for manufacturing and a research and development center, with a total investment of about 30 billion crowns ($3.3 billion). .
Northvolt and Volvo said previously Tesla CEO Adrian Clarke has been appointed to lead the production company.
“He’s got a lot of experience from Tesla and how to build factories like this,” Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson, who also previously worked for Tesla, told Reuters.
Javier Varela, head of engineering and operations at Volvo Cars, said access to fossil-free energy, skills and infrastructure were factors in choosing Gothenburg, Volvo’s home town. .
Competition for talent is fierce, with most battery engineers based in Asia. Tesla and Asian companies like LG and Samsung SDI are also setting up factories in Europe.
Northvolt’s Gigafactory in the Swedish town of Skelleftea assembled its first battery cells in late December, becoming the first European company to design and manufacture batteries in Europe.
Carlsson said it is working as planned, although he said global supply chain issues, semiconductor shortages and COVID-19 have made it a bigger challenge. “It wasn’t the easiest moment,” he said.
Volvo Cars, largely Chinese-owned Geely Holding, aim to sell 50% pure Electric Car by the middle of this decade and have only all-electric cars by 2030.
Northvolt, whose largest shareholder is VolkswagenTo date has received over $30 billion worth of contracts from clients such as BMW carFluence, Scania, Volkswagen, Volvo Cars and Polestar.
