Northvolt keeps saying it has to move quickly to start manufacturing its battery cells. Patience does not seem to be a virtue of its customers. In Europe, BMW has just cancelled an order for battery cells that is close to 3 billion CAN.
Despite this setback, which comes on top of an eventful week on the Old Continent for the Stockholm-based company, this does not change anything about its intentions in Quebec, she assures.
“This decision [by BMW] has no impact on our project in North America,” says a spokesperson, Emmanuelle Rouillard. We are continuing with ongoing construction activities on site. »
At the time of writing on Thursday, the German automobile giant had not responded to La Presse’s questions sent by email.
According to various German media outlets, Northvolt was allegedly unable to meet the terms of a contract concluded with BMW in 2020 for the supply of battery cells – the final step before the assembly of lithium-ion batteries.
Manager Magazin, a German business monthly, has suggested that the Swedish multinational will have difficulty increasing its production rate at its mega-factory in northern Sweden. The German car manufacturer’s decision concerns an agreement announced in 2020 with Northvolt, valued at 2 billion euros, for fifth generation cells.
“Northvolt and BMW have jointly decided to focus activities on the development of next-generation cells,” the company said in a statement. “The BMW Group continues to support the establishment of a sustainable battery manufacturer in the West.”
On its website, the battery cell maker says it has secured orders from more than US$50 billion from manufacturers including Volkswagen, BMW, Volvo and Scania.
The young Swedish company has its hands full at the moment.
Alongside accelerating production at its existing factory in Sweden, it is reportedly re-evaluating the construction of a second complex in the country, which was to be built in Borlange. Last March, it also kicked off the construction of a battery cell factory in Germany.
In Quebec, it obtained the green light from the Legault government on June 5 to move forward with the construction of the first buildings of its battery cell mega-factory in Montérégie, a project valued at 7 billion. The commissioning of the complex is planned for 2027.
In an interview with La Presse last April, he stressed that the company could not afford to accumulate delays due to its tight order schedule.
He then revealed that the North American “anchor client” was ready to buy up to half of the annual production of the first phase of the Quebec megacomplex.
Northvolt will be located on 170 hectares of land which straddles Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville. There it will manufacture cathode materials – the positive pole of a lithium-ion battery – as well as cells.
With the exception of the portion which concerns battery recycling, the other facets of the project are not subject to the procedure of the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment – which had earned the Legault government numerous criticisms. This process includes public hearings.
A developer cannot carry out work during this process.
Quebec and Ottawa are financing Northvolt’s Quebec project by offering 2.7 billion for the construction of the complex. Added to this are subsidies for cell production capped at 4.6 billion.