$1 billion EU finance for Sweden's Northvolt's battery gigafactory
Battery cell production - Photo Northvolt Ett
(LUXEMBOURG) - The European Investment Bank announced Tuesday the financing of Northvolt's circular battery gigafactory in Northern Sweden, with a total lending package to slightly over $1.038 billion (€942.6 million).
The financing is an important part of the $5 billion debt financing raised for the expansion of the gigafactory in Skellefteå. The expansion is expected to increase the annual output capacity for battery production to up to 60 GWh.
The deal is the largest green loan raised in Europe to date and will facilitate the creation of a fully integrated circular battery production facility that has not previously existed outside Asia.
The EU's InvestEU programme is providing support to two investments, EUR 362.9 million from the EIBG, and EUR 28.8 million of the investment from the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB).
The EU's support for the project will contribute to the goals set out in its 'Green Deal Industrial Plan', which aims to provide support to scale up the EU's manufacturing capacity for the net-zero technologies required to meet Europe's ambitious climate targets. It follows previous support for Northvolt's battery production under the InnovFin programme (€52.5 million), and the Investment Plan for Europe (€319 million).
Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefcovic in charge of the European Green Deal and the European Battery Alliance said: “Northvolt, our battery pioneer, showcases that the EU has what it takes to build an innovative, sustainable and globally competitive battery ecosystem," said ECX vice-president Commission Executive Vice-President Maros Sefcovic: "I am proud of Northvolt's success story, as well as of other 160 industrial projects taking shape across the entire value chain, while promoted under the European Battery Alliance.”
The InvestEU programme provides the EU with long-term funding by leveraging private and public funds in support of EU policy priorities. As part of the programme, the InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners who will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee and thus mobilising at least €372 billion in additional investment.