Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt has signed a letter of intent to purchase a former paper mill, which it plans to develop into a cathode and cell production plant. The Kvarnsveden Mill in Borlänge, Sweden closed in 2021. Northvolt plans to refurbish the facilities and infrastructure to develop a cathode and cell production plant, which is to begin operations in late 2024.

The company’s goal is to source 50% of its raw material from recycled batteries by 2030.

“Since Northvolt’s founding, we have focused on circular battery production, but this is the first time we will reuse an entire production site,” said co-founder and CEO Peter Carlsson.

Northvolt says it expects the Gigafactory to rely on 100 percent clean energy, and says “the site will have a potential annual production capacity of more than 100 GWh of cathode material.” The cells produced there will be assembled into battery packs at other Northvolt facilities.

Northvolt says the plant will join production facilities it is developing with its partners in Sweden, Norway, Poland, Germany and Portugal. The company also says it has more than $50 billion in orders from BMW, Fluence, Scania, Volkswagen, Volvo and Polestar.

Source: Northvolt