It can start on the west coast: The two communities in Schleswig-Holstein, on whose land the Swedish company Northvolt wants to build a battery factory, have agreed to the billion-dollar project. The town of Norderwöhrden made the relevant decisions on Monday evening, Lohe-Rickelshof already last week.
Now all that is missing is the building permit from the State Office for the Environment in cooperation with the Dithmarschen district. “This is a formality,” said District Administrator Stefan Mohrdieck. “Today was a historic day.” The Norderwöhrden local council approved the work with a narrow majority of four to three votes. Critics of the project there fear that the expansion of the infrastructure could not keep up. With the resolutions, the last hurdle for construction has been cleared.
Northvolt wants to produce battery cells for electric cars in the factory. Production is scheduled to start in 2026. The 4.5 billion euro investment is expected to create 3,000 jobs. The company has already invested around 100 million euros of its own funds in the construction project in Heide, according to people close to the project. A facility for recycling old batteries from discarded electric cars is also being considered.
Northvolt made its final decision on the location last week by signing an implementation agreement. Some time ago it looked as if construction might be delayed. Northvolt boss Peter Carlsson cited the comparatively high electricity prices in Germany and higher subsidies in the USA as reasons.
On January 8th, the EU Commission cleared the way for funding and guarantees from the federal and state governments amounting to 902 million euros for Northvolt. They are supporting the project with around 700 million euros. There are also guarantees for a further 202 million euros. Of the funding, around 564 million euros go to the federal government and up to 137 million euros to the state. The funding is spread over several annual tranches.