British media said that the Swedish start-up company Northvolt, which plans to produce lithium-ion batteries, announced on April 27 that it will build a demonstration production line and research facility in the Swedish city of Vasteras. The company founder and CEO Peter Carr Song said that this facility is 'the first step of our long journey': building a factory with a lithium-ion battery capacity of 32 gigawatt-hours, against the Asian giants that dominate the battery race.
According to a report on the "Financial Times" website on April 30, Northvolt is one of the 80 stakeholders in the European Battery Alliance. The alliance is the vice chairman of the European Commission responsible for energy affairs Marosh Shevovic, who was founded last year. To speed up the EU's battery production.
Officials believe that battery technology is a strategic requirement for Europe. Europe has not yet succeeded in creating a number of digital technology giants like the United States. Its early leading position in solar panel production has been surpassed by Chinese companies.
According to the report, if one of the most important industries in Europe wants to get out of the shadow of the Volkswagen 'Diesel Gate' scandal and preserve the region’s central position in the industrial base, it is particularly important to develop automotive battery technology.
Sevkovich said: 'If the internal combustion engine is the car's most valuable component, then the future is battery and software.'
Electrification of transport is an important part of the EU's implementation of the Paris climate agreement. Some European cities with worrying air quality are considering banning traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.
Batteries also need to be used to store energy, because the power generation industry is rapidly discarding fossil fuels and more dependent on intermittent renewable energy.
According to Goldman Sachs, by the end of 2030, the global demand for car batteries is estimated to rise from less than 10 billion U.S. dollars to 60 billion U.S. dollars. The benchmark mining intelligence company is a research institute that monitors the lithium-ion battery market. The company’s head is Simon. Moores said that Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is the world's largest battery manufacturer, and more than half of the new battery factories are built by China. Goldman Sachs expects Asian companies to continue to dominate the market.
According to reports, European companies are trying to regain lost ground. EU's initiatives include companies throughout the supply chain: BASF and Belgian chemical group Solvay, European automaker Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Renault, and German companies Group Siemens. In addition to Northvolt, German consortium TerraE and French battery maker Saft also plan to build battery factories in Europe.
Sevkovich said that the European Battery Alliance has brought a number of promising commercial projects. Northvolt is just one of them. He said: 'People's predictions for the 2025 market are gradually becoming a reality. I think investors should know that European battery projects are worth investing in. '
Reported that Asian competitors are also building factories in Europe. South Korea's LG Chemical Company is building a large-scale lithium-ion battery plant in Poland. Samsung SDI and SK Innovations are investing in Hungary.
Karlsson was a senior executive of Tesla Motors. He said that the EU's initiative helps people understand that continental Europe needs a 'battery ecosystem'. He said that the European Investment Bank and the European Commission are 'guaranteeing the first stage for us ( "Financing" is a key part of '. Northvolt also needs an additional EUR 1.5 billion in investments to start planning to build factories in another part of Sweden.
According to the report, on April 27, the company announced that it had cooperated with Nimaska Lithium Company to ensure that its plant obtained battery-grade lithium hydroxide. Ensuring that the supply of cobalt and lithium is an important concern for battery manufacturers at present, but from In the long run, rising prices may prompt investment to turn to new mines.
Sevkovich welcomed Northvolt's plan. He acknowledged that much work still needs to be done to achieve the magnificent industrial and climate goals of Europe.
He said, I hope that Europe (from now on) will have such good news every quarter or every half year because people need 10 to 20 'giga factories' in Europe (Tesla's battery factory, planned annual production capacity) 35 GWh).
