Northvolt raises €138M to build a lithium-ion battery gigafactory in Canada: Know more 

Stockholm-based Northvolt, a lithium-ion battery manufacturer, announced on Thursday, November 16, that it has raised $150M (approximately €138M) funding from CDPQ (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec), a Canadian global investment group.

The funding, in the form of convertible debt in the parent company located in Sweden, will contribute to the fund the Northvolt Six project in Québec announced this fall.

Northvolt operates Europe’s first homegrown gigafactory in Sweden and is currently developing other projects to expand in Europe, in addition to the project announced recently in Québec.

The groundwork for the Northvolt Six facility, a fully integrated battery factory in Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville, outside of Montréal, is expected to start by the end of 2023. 

Upon completion, the factory will have an annual production capacity of up to 60 GWh, with facilities to manufacture cathode active material, cells and recycled materials, effectively closing the battery loop on site.

The announcement comes eight months after talks to raise over $5B (approximately €4.6B) to cement its position as Europe’s largest battery manufacturer.

Northvolt: Providing eco-friendly batteries

Founded in 2016 by Paolo Cerruti and Peter Carlsson, Northvolt is a lithium-ion battery manufacturing company focusing on providing eco-friendly batteries.

It offers lithium-ion cells based on proprietary Lingonberry NMC chemistry in cylindrical and prismatic formats.

The company’s batteries are manufactured with a minimal carbon footprint and with recycling technology without compromising important ecosystems, enabling the auto industry to replace fossil fuels with electricity efficiently. 

So far, the Swedish firm has secured $55B (approximately €51B) of orders from key customers, including BMW, Fluence, Scania, Volvo Cars, and Volkswagen Group. 

To ensure a sufficient supply of raw materials for battery production, the company will produce cathode material at its Swedish site and build a recycling facility on-site to enable 50 per cent of its raw material requirements to be sourced from recycled batteries by 2030.

The company is currently delivering batteries from its first gigafactory Northvolt Ett, in Skellefteå, Sweden and from its R&D and industrialization campus Northvolt Labs, in Västerås, Sweden, supported by over 5000 employees in Sweden, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the US and Canada.

“CDPQ has been involved in the process for several months, actively contributing in establishing our future plant in Québec. We are delighted to partner with such a major, long-term institutional investor that is committed to Québec’s economic and energy development,” says Paolo Cerruti, Co-Founder of Northvolt and CEO of Northvolt North America. 

“Northvolt continues to integrate into the economic and social fabric of Québec, and the CDPQ’s investment in Northvolt is further evidence of this,” adds Cerruti. 

The investor

Based out of Quebec, CDPQ invests constructively to generate sustainable returns over the long term. 

The firm is active in the major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt. As of June 30, 2023, CDPQ’s net assets totalled CAD 424B (approximately €284B).

“The battery value chain is a high-interest sector for CDPQ, and with a favourable impact on the energy transition, we believe it will experience strong growth over the next decade, which we expect will benefit our depositors,” says Kim Thomassin, Executive Vice-President and Head of Québec at CDPQ. 

“This sector is promising for Québec’s economic development and we want to contribute to that,” adds Thomassin.