Germany – Northvolt intends to build a battery gigafactory in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Northvolt Drei will supply the European market with a supply of sustainably produced lithium-ion batteries sufficient for one million electric vehicles, with an annual potential production capacity of 60 GWh.
The new gigafactory brings Northvolt’s pipeline of battery manufacturing capacity under development to more than 170 GWh, advancing the company’s mission to deliver batteries in a way that is fundamentally different from approaches dominating the global industry today.
Presence in Europe
Northvolt Drei’s primary goal is to deliver high-performance lithium-ion batteries with the lowest environmental footprint in continental Europe, with the goal of producing its first batteries in 2025 and creating approximately 3,000 new jobs. The choice of Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, is critical to achieving this goal. The region is home to Germany’s cleanest energy grid, which is distinguished by a surplus of electricity generated by onshore and offshore wind power and supplemented by clean energy provided through grid interconnections to Denmark and Norway.
It is not only the abundance of clean energy that makes the region of Heide and the larger industrial landscape surrounding Hamburg ideal for hosting Northvolt’s growing presence in Europe. In addition to being centrally located in the emerging European battery supply chain connecting Scandinavia and continental Europe, the region provides the space needed to establish a battery plant of sufficient size to leverage production economies of scale, which are critical to lowering battery costs.
Battery recycling
Access to German industrial expertise and automotive expertise will open up new doors. Local manufacturing expertise from Schleswig-Holstein and Heide will ensure that the factory delivers high-quality batteries, while the factory itself will provide critical labor force experience with battery technology – an emerging cornerstone technology of the European economy.
With sustainability at the forefront of Northvolt Drei’s design and decision-making, the factory will source significant volumes of its raw material requirements from recycled battery metals, as part of Northvolt’s commitment to source 50% of its raw material needs from recycling by 2030.
Along with battery production, Northvolt Drei plans to build an on-site battery recycling plant to ensure efficient reuse of manufacturing byproducts and to provide a sustainable solution for end-of-life electric vehicle batteries recovered from European markets.
