120-year-old paper mill to become battery materials gigafactory in Sweden

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Northvolt and Stora Enso have signed a letter of intent for the purchase of the Kvarnsveden Mill and the surrounding industrial area in Borlänge, Sweden.

Northvolt will develop the site into a manufacturing plant for active material and battery cells, reusing and refurbishing much of the existing facilities and site infrastructure, an official statement said.

The gigafactory is expected to start the first part of its operations in late 2024 and will employ up to 1,000 people, utilizing 100 percent clean energy from the region, it added.

Fully built out, the site will have a potential annual production capacity of more than 100 GWh of cathode material, which will enable cell assembly at multiple Northvolt facilities. The site will also feature cell production.

Peter Carlsson, Co-Founder and CEO of Northvolt, comments: “Since Northvolt’s founding, we have focused on circular battery production, but this is the first time we will reuse an entire production site. With its access to energy, industrial water and the broad production know-how in the region, Kvarnsveden is an optimal site for a gigafactory.”

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Founded in 1900, the mill in Sweden produced pulp and paper for over 120 years until its closure in 2021.

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The project advances Northvolt on its mission to deliver the world’s greenest lithium-ion battery and establish a sustainable supply of batteries to enable the decarbonization of society, claims the company.

According to Northvolt, the factory will play a key role in fulfilling more than $50 billion in orders from key customers and joins a wider European production network of facilities being developed together with partners in Sweden, Norway, Poland, Germany and Portugal.

“There is a massive global demand for sustainable, high-quality lithium-ion battery cells and systems. With the blueprint developed at Northvolt Labs and Northvolt Ett, we will now put in another gear to scale up production even faster and larger than before,” says Carlsson.