Northvolt stops production at its Swedish headquarters
Recently, there was only one customer: the battery cell manufacturer Northvolt, which is supported by significant German taxpayer money, is ending production in northern Sweden. Meanwhile, Schleswig-Holstein is arguing about how to deal with the consequences.
The insolvent battery cell manufacturer Northvolt will cease production at its main plant on June 30, 2025. There are no realistic prospects that production at the main plant in Ett in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, can be taken over in the near future, insolvency administrator Mikael Kubu announced in Stockholm .
Recently, Northvolt had only been able to maintain operations at the plant thanks to a single customer. This was the truck manufacturer Scania , part of the German Volkswagen Group. Cell production was initially able to continue with a small number of employees. However, this was not sustainable in the long term for the customer and in view of the insolvency, according to administrator Kubu.
According to Swedish media reports, around 900 people were still working at the plant. A Scania spokesperson told broadcaster SVT that the collaboration with Northvolt was “unfortunately no longer economically viable” for his company. According to unconfirmed information from the broadcaster,
Scania plans to purchase battery cells from Chinese competitor CATL instead.
One thing is clear: The Northvolt Group, once considered a beacon of hope for electromobility and heavily subsidized, is now facing dismantling. There are already buyers for individual divisions. For example, the plant in Gdansk, Poland, and the development center in Stockholm are being acquired by Scania.
Controversy over release of Northvolt files
Kubu said, referring to the group,
The search for a buyer is progressing,
Discussions and negotiations regarding additional parts of the company are ongoing.
What will happen to the still-unfinished plant in Schleswig-Holstein remains unclear. The parent company of the German Northvolt companies also recently faced insolvency: Northvolt Germany TopCo GmbH has filed for restructuring, according to SPIEGEL information .
The “TopCo” also includes the German project company Northvolt Drei Project GmbH (formerly Northvolt Germany GmbH), which received approximately €600 million in German taxpayer money for the plant near Heide through a convertible bond – project-related. The German companies also worked for Northvolt in
Sweden . They helped the company, for example, with the purchase of graphite. They are creditors of the insolvent parent company.
The federal government and the state of Schleswig-Holstein are at risk of being left with the bond costs due to the default. In total, the German government is at risk for more than one billion euros, including additional support commitments. The Federal Audit Office is currently reviewing German aid for Northvolt.
This Thursday, the Finance and Economic Committees of the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament engaged in heated debate about the financial consequences and who bears responsibility. The initial focus was on the question of when and which sections of the administrative files on Northvolt must be made public.
A key role is played by a report on Northvolt prepared by the consulting firm PwC on behalf of the federal government. It was classified as “Confidential” by then-Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck (Green Party), citing business secrets.
Threatened with committee of inquiry
The state government has been publishing excerpts from the Northvolt files for weeks – albeit with extensive redactions. According to Schleswig-Holstein’s State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Julia Carstens, the opposition’s requests for publication are being processed gradually. Representatives of the government and opposition in Schleswig-Holstein also announced their intention to lobby the new Federal Minister of Economic Affairs, Katherina Reiche (CDU), to release the contents of the report.
Bernd Buchholz, the former state economics minister and FDP politician, said:
I’m no longer interested in a private discussion of the matter,
In light of what he considered a slow information policy, the opposition politician threatened:
If this continues, then perhaps we should continue with a committee of inquiry.
“Then the questioning will be easier.”
The Northvolt Group was considered a green hope, intended to help the German automotive industry with its mobility transition using battery cells from Europe. The federal government, the state government, and the EU provided billions in guarantees for the company. Northvolt filed for bankruptcy protection in Sweden in mid-March, and further restructuring proceedings for the group under US law also failed.
In order for Schleswig-Holstein to pay its share of the now-maturing €300 million bond, the state had to take on new debt. According to SPIEGEL research, the Northvolt crisis could have been recognized early by the federal and state governments . apr/nna
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Northvolt stops production at its Swedish headquarters, source
