With the largest “green” bond in Europe to date, the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt is raising five billion euros on the capital market. The company, which counts Volkswagen among its investors and customers, wants to use the money to expand its production of lithium-ion batteries in northern Sweden. The financing is a milestone for the European energy transition, said company boss Peter Carlsson. In total, Northvolt has already raised 13 billion euros in equity and debt capital to ramp up battery cell production.
Among other things, the Swedish company is building a factory near Heide in Schleswig-Holstein, for which the federal government approved subsidies amounting to 900 million euros at the beginning of January despite the difficult budget situation. Around 3,000 jobs are to be created there. According to Northvolt, the new loans are backed by long-term purchase agreements worth more than $55 billion with partners such as BMW, Scania, Volvo and Volkswagen. Works are also to be built in Canada, the USA and Poland. Northvolt’s business faces tough competition, especially from Chinese battery manufacturers such as the current market leader CATL. In this respect, the group’s success is also crucial for whether Europe can become more independent of China in its supply chains in the automotive industry.