“Battery power will enable us to be significantly more environmentally friendly in all we do. We are working to make a compelling business case for batteries over the full value chain,” Tom Johnstone, Industrial Advisor for Northvolt, said. Today we are so glad to have visited Northvolt battery company. Martin Anderlind, head of business development & communications, gave us a very informative presentation about the battery industry and went in-depth on the company. Based on what he said, there are three points I would like to summarize.
Transport
By 2025, demand for lithium batteries by the subsegment in Europe shows that 62% of demand comes from light vehicles, and 24% of demand comes from grid buses and distributed, which is good for Northvolt. However, there is a demand & capacity gap expected in Europe. There is a demand and production gap in Europe, where the current battery production would not be enough to meet their expected demand by 2025. Therefore, shortage of battery production in Europe is a problem that Northvolt can help solve. Northvolt could see a bright future in the battery industry and there is no doubt that electrification and renewable energy storage are very important for the evolving car industry. Batteries will enable the transition from traditional fossil fuels to electric. Northvolt is eager to make this happen as quickly and sustainably as possible.
Recycling
Martin explained that two thirds of the energy produced is wasted annually. This waste includes wasted energy from used batteries. Furthermore, resources such as nickel, cobalt, graphite, cathode or anode, is limited in Europe. These components have to be imported from Russia, China or Japan. The cost for raw materials is about 50% of the current total cost. Therefore, Martin told us it is very crucial to have a recycling system.
Development
Northvolt is led by a team of experienced professionals. For example, its CEO, Peter Carlsson, was CPO of Tesla Motors. Its chief strategy and technology partnership officer was CEO of Toda. Northvolt is owned by the team directly. The company is planning to have a huge capacity factory, however, the company has not decided on a location yet. They want to find a location where clean water is accessible and carbon neutral is not expensive. Also, they want the location to be surrounded by a good community. In addition, they need a location with cool weather, a stable environment, a consistent power grid, as well as redundant energy sources. Once the new factory is completed built, it will have four Blocks of 8 GWh capacity.
