Company is targeting an annual production capacity of over 150GWh in Europe by the end of 2030
Northvolt aims to increase its annual production capacity in Europe to more than 150GWh by the end of this decade. (Credit: Northvolt AB)
Sweden-based Northvolt has raised $2.75bn in equity through a private placement to fund its plans to increase its battery cell production capacity and research and development efforts.
With the new private placement, Northvolt has now raised equity and debt of over $6.5bn to implement its plans to achieve a deployed annual production capacity of more than 150GWh in Europe by the end of this decade.
The private placement was co-led by new investors Swedish pension funds AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4, and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) along with existing investors Volkswagen Group and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Also participating in the private placement are the company’s current owners AMF, ATP, Baron Capital Group, Baillie Gifford, Compagnia di San Paolo, Bridford Investments, Norrsken VC, EIT InnoEnergy, and others.
In addition to the capital, the Swedish battery developer and manufacturer has so far bagged more than $27bn worth of contracts from BMW, Fluence, Volkswagen, Scania, and other important customers.
Northvolt expects the proceeds to help it implement its plan, which includes adding recycling capabilities to enable half of all its raw material requirements to be procured from recycled batteries by 2030.
Northvolt co-founder and CEO Peter Carlsson said: “We have a solid base of world-class investors and customers on-board who share Northvolt’s mission of building the world’s greenest battery to enable the European transition to renewable energy.”
The company said that it will expand its first gigafactory being built in Skellefteå, Sweden from the earlier plan of 40GWh to 60GWh of annual production capacity.
The expansion of the Skellefteå gigafactory will meet the growing demand from important customers. Among these are Volkswagen, which had placed an order worth $14bn for or premium battery cells earlier this year.
The Swedish factory is scheduled to begin production later this year, said Northvolt.
The battery developer and manufacturer has also revealed plans to build at least two more gigafactories in Europe over the coming decade in Europe to achieve its 2030 capacity target. As part of this, the company is studying the chances of building them in Germany.