Northvolt breaks ground on 60 GWh capacity German giga factory

Northvolt announced the company had started construction of its battery giga factory "Northvolt Drei" in Germany.

Europe had battled to keep the factory within its borders, after the possibility emerged of Northvolt shifting the plant to America to benefit from the US government's clean energy subsidies. In January, the European Union approved €902 million in aid, allowing the German government to offer €700 million in direct grants and €202 million in guarantees to the plant.

The giga factory is scheduled to commence operations in 2026 and achieve full capacity by 2029 with a maximum annual production capacity of 60 GWh. Depending on battery size, that will allow it to support 800,000 to 1 million electric vehicles a year. The complex will be powered by renewable energy from wind, as part of Northvolt's mission to mass produce the world's greenest batteries.

The launch of construction drew political heavyweights. Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein Daniel Günther, together with Northvolt CEO and Co-Founder Peter Carlsson and Northvolt Drei CEO Christofer Haux, started piling machinery at the industrial site outside the city of Heide, district of Dithmarschen, in Northern Germany.

Chancellor Scholz commented: "Investments such as that of Northvolt are of strategic importance for our country and for Europe. Germany was, is, and will remain a country with a strong manufacturing base. And the production of good cars beyond the combustion engine continues to form the backbone of our industrial sector. For that, we need battery cells made in Germany, made in Europe. It is therefore good news for our entire country that, here in the north, battery cells produced in a climate-friendly way will be manufactured for one million cars a year in the future."