Northvolt secures $1.6 billion debt financing for two gigafactories

The rather large sum of debt financing meets the ambitious goals of the company. In just over ten years Northvolt aims to pour 150 GWh of batteries onto the European market, per year. In addition the company is also working to source large portions of its raw materials demand from recycled battery waste.

A consortium of public financial institutions, commercial banks, and pension funds has issued yet another large token of confidence to Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt. Today, the company announced to have raised $1.6 billion in debt financing to pursue its goal of securing 25% of Europe’s battery market by 2030, while sourcing half of the required raw materials, like lithium and cobalt from recycled batteries.

The financial institutions that have backed Northvolt in this latest financing round comprise APG, BNP Paribas, Danske Bank, Danica Pension, IMI – Intesa Sanpaolo, ING, KfW IPEX-Bank, PFA Pension, SEB, Siemens Bank, SMBC, Société Générale, Swedbank and UniCredit, as well as the European Investment Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM).

Beyond that guarantees provided to the loan structure will com from Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) and BPI France. Another guarantee tranche from Euler Hermes is currently pending final approval. BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc, meanwhile, act as financial advisors to Northvolt.

“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, chief financial officer at Northvolt. “This new industrial landscape will need significant investments over the coming years.”

Northvolt was launched in March 2017 and now employs about 700 people at its sites in Sweden, Germany, and Poland. Currently, the company has an operation battery factory in Gdansk, Poland, and runs a bespoke research and development side, Northvolt Labs, in Västerås, Sweden.

In previous financing rounds, Northvolt has raised a cumulative $3 billion for the development of two gigafactories. Northvolt Ett, located in Skellefteå, Sweden, is currently under construction, aiming to commence the annual production of 40 GWh of batteries by 2021. The companies second gigafactory is in permitting process stages. The Northvolt Zwei Factory in Salzgitter Germany aims at putting out 20 GWh of batteries per annum.

“The momentum for electrification is stronger than ever,” said Peter Carlsson, co-founder, and CEO, Northvolt. “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.”

Looking at the recent activity at Northvolt and its strategic partners gives assurance that the billion-dollar investments are not merely based on good hope. Last year, German car manufacturer behemoth Volkswagen has invested $900 million in Northvolt and received a permanent seat on the board of the company. And just recently confidence in a stable market for Northvolt’s products was raised again as Volkswagen rival and only slightly smaller car manufacturer BMW inked $2 billion long-term supply deal for Northvolt batteries. The announcement came just a few days after the company announced to develop fully electric versions of its top-selling 5 and 7 series models.

According to the manufacturer, the companies aim to secure 25% of the European market by 2030 would translate into 150 GWh of battery production capacity per year. Meeting half of the raw materials demand from recycled batteries, the company is building a hydrometallurgical recycling facility co-located with its Northvolt Ett gigafactory.

To secure a steady stream of end-of-life batteries and improve recycling economics, Northvolt has entered into cooperation with a Norwegian battery collection organization, Batteriretur, and Norwegian aluminum producer Hydro. The latter will pretreat the EV batteries to extract the considerable aluminum content and then ship the remainder to Nothvolt’s recycling facility. The aim is to have the recycling scheme up and running processing 8000 tons of battery waste by 2022.

Lắp đặt điện mặt trời Khải Minh Tech
https://ift.tt/2X7bF6x
0906633505
info.khaiminhtech@gmail.com
80/39 Trần Quang Diệu, Phường 14, Quận 3
Lắp đặt điện mặt trời Khải Minh Tech
https://ift.tt/2ZH4TRU