Northvolt expands in Poland to establish Europe’s largest factory for energy storage solutions

  • Northvolt to invest $200 million in Greenfield factory project tooled for assembly of cutting-edge, sustainable energy storage systems.

  • The 50,000 sqm factory will be established in Gdańsk, Poland, in two stages, with an initial output of 5 GWh and an estimated start of production date in 2022.

  • Including a new engineering R&D center of excellence to be set-up in conjunction with the new factory, the initiative will create 500 new jobs in the Gdańsk region.

Gdańsk, Poland – Northvolt’s vision of enabling the future of energy takes a new step forward through a $200 million expansion of its battery systems capabilities in Gdańsk, Poland. Entering production in 2022, a new factory will have an initial annual output of 5 GWh, and a potential future capacity of 12 GWh.

“Securing battery cell manufacturing capacity in Europe is key for its industrial future, but what is equally critical is the industrial capacity for integrating cells into real-world solutions. It is this that the new factory will deliver – sophisticated, sustainable energy storage systems to support the transformation of Europe’s electricity grid and its industry,” said Peter Carlsson, Co-Founder and CEO, Northvolt.

The investment will facilitate a ramp-up in the manufacturing capacity of battery modules and systems in order to fulfill contracts that Northvolt has secured with customers seeking long-term, high-volume supply agreements for complete battery system solutions across grid and industrial markets.

In delivering these battery solutions, Northvolt will be providing technical solutions required for ending industrial dependence on fossil fuels and unlocking the use of increasing amounts of renewable energy across society.

The project reflects Northvolt’s ambitions to become a global leader in the development and delivery of premium, sustainable battery solutions for the European market and builds off of the company’s start-up of a battery systems industrialization plant in Gdańsk in 2019.

Securing battery cell manufacturing capacity in Europe is key for its industrial future

The development of the new factory has already commenced, with the expectation that the first phase of construction will begin in autumn 2021, for a start of production in 2022. The initial phase of the project will establish an annual output of 5 GWh of modules and packs. A second phase of the project will see the factory expanded to a total capacity of 12 GWh. Including a new engineering R&D center of excellence to be set-up in conjunction with the factory expansion, the initiative will create 500 new jobs in the Gdańsk region.

“Northvolt has been present in Poland for three years and we are impressed by both the professionalism and caliber of the engineers and manufacturing staff we’re engaged with in our activities here. We are excited about going out and recruiting 500 more,” said Emad Zand, President Battery Systems, Northvolt.

The factory will receive its supply of lithium-ion battery cells from Northvolt Ett gigafactory, located in Skellefteå, Sweden. As Northvolt’s ambition is to continue to build on the low emission production platform established in Sweden within its operations in Poland, the new factory will be powered with renewable energy, including on-site renewable energy generation.

About Northvolt

Northvolt is a European supplier of sustainable, high-quality battery cells and systems. Founded in 2016 to enable the European transition to a decarbonized future, the company has made swift progress on its mission to deliver the world’s greenest lithium-ion battery with a minimal CO2 footprint and has grown to more than 1000 people from over 75 different nationalities at its facilities in Sweden, Germany and Poland. Among Northvolt’s industrial partners and customers are ABB, BMW Group, Scania, Siemens, Vattenfall, Vestas and the Volkswagen Group.