Swedish battery maker Northvolt is undertaking a strategic review that could lead to job losses as the company aims to cut costs and scale back ambitious expansion plans, Reuters reported Monday.
“No final decisions have been made on the precise nature of any (workforce) resizing,” Northvolt said in a statement to Reuters. The company has decided to suspend cathode active material production at its Skelleftea factory in Sweden, which will reportedly require Northvolt to import the material for assembly of lithium-ion battery cells.
Rendering of Northvolt Six battery factory in Quebec, Canada
Opened in 2021, the Skelleftea factory is Northolt’s first battery plant. So far it hasn’t reached the full planned production capacity, Reuters reported. It has around 3,500 staff, according to Northvolt’s 2023 annual report. Northvolt has about 5,000 employees in total, according to Reuters.
Reuters reported that Northvolt planned to start talks with “potential partners and investors” regarding its planned factory in Gdansk, Poland, but remained committed to previously-discussed new factories in Germany, Canada, and Sweden. The latter is a joint venture with Volvo announced in 2022 that was originally scheduled to open in 2025. But all pending projects could reportedly face delays as Northvolt reevaluates its financial situation.
Artist’s impression of Volvo and Northvolt battery plant planned for Gothenburg, Sweden
Northvolt is one of the startups aiming to create a local EV battery industry for Europe, but it has faced several setbacks recently. In June BMW cancelled a battery supply deal estimated to be worth about $2 billion. Northvolt on Friday also announced that it was cancelling plans for a second cathode active material plant in Borlange, Sweden, as part of the ongoing strategic review.
Last month, Northvolt also announced that it was shutting down an R&D center in California, which the company inherited with its acquisition of Cuberg in 2021. The California R&D center was researching lithium-metal battery technology, work that Northvolt indicated would be transferred to its main R&D center in Sweden.
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