Ojo que esto es guano de qualité made in Sweden. A menudo os he hablado de la gran fábrica de baterías Northvolt que se iba a construir en el norte. Iba a ser la bomba. Pues no pueden ni pagar a proveedores ni salarios casi. JAJA, ostia Suecia, menudo guano nos estamos comiendo y nos vamos a comer CON LOS PUTOS PISOS.
Northvolt – from green dreams to financial crisis
The plans were grand. A new gigafactory in Skellefteå would create jobs, faith in the future and millions of car batteries. Seven years later, it's about crisis, notice and a hard-to-reach CEO. What was it that happened?
Jan Almgren
Published10:33 am
Peter Carlsson laughs at his own analogy. The year is 2017 and Northvolt's CEO is interviewed in SVT's Aktuellt . He talks about the manufacturing capacity of the upcoming factory, "it will churn out approximately 3,500 car batteries per minute," he says. And then he comes up with the somewhat unexpected simile:
"'It is about 12 times as fast as children are born in the world.'
At this time, Northvolt was the hottest thing in Swedish business life. The plans for the battery factory became the image of the green transformation of society with renewable energy.
Manufacturing battery cells (lithium ion batteries) for existing and future electric cars was just right in time and received applause from all possible quarters. The then Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) was one of several politicians who spoke highly of the battery factory. "Northvolt will be of great importance to the world," stated Löfven in front of a large press gathering.
When it became clear that the giant industrial project would also be built in Norrland, more precisely in Skellefteå , the project gained even more attention. In the city of just over 70,000 inhabitants, the jubilation knew no bounds. This meant jobs, hope for the future and new investment for a region that had long struggled against the odds.
CEO Peter Carlsson received a lot of attention. He was sometimes called the "green Jesus" when he enthusiastically talked about how the gigafactory of the future would become a reality.
Fascination for the enormous
His background at Tesla was highlighted. For five years he was purchasing and logistics manager at the American electric car giant and worked closely with Elon Musk. He talked about that and much more in his Summer in P1 2021.
Anders Teljebäck from Västerås, Peter Carlsson, Northvolt's CEO, Mikael and Lorents Burman from Skellefteå, during a press meeting about Northvolt's battery factory in October 2017.
Anders Teljebäck from Västerås, Peter Carlsson, Northvolt's CEO, Mikael and Lorents Burman from Skellefteå, during a press meeting about Northvolt's battery factory in October 2017. Photo: Lars Pehrson
In 2023 it was Harald Mix's turn to speak in the same program, he together with Peter Carlsson is one of the founders of Northvolt, Mix is a key person in the story of the battery factory in the north.
Harald Mix is the super-entrepreneur, financial equilibrist and venture capitalist who has calculations for everything. He has founded the venture capital company Altor and started Vargas Holding. The latter is an investment company that is the third largest owner in Northvolt. Peter Carlsson and Harald Mix – were the pair of horses that would take Northvolt from dream to reality.
Right from the beginning, there had been a focus on finances. Initially with positive signs. There was a fascination with the enormous sums needed to get the factory in Skellefteå off the ground. And it wasn't just in Skellefteå that it was going to be built. It turned out that the plans were bigger than that. Much bigger.
The factory in Västerbotten was the first of a series of facilities that were planned. Northvolt also wanted to build factories and production units in Germany, Canada, Portugal and Poland. But also in more locations in Sweden, such as Gothenburg, Västerås and Borlänge.
A marathon in investments
To date, Northvolt has raised more than SEK 100 billion in funding in what has been described as a marathon in terms of capital investment.
The factory in Skellefteå alone is estimated to have cost around SEK 60 billion. The money has been received from banks and the largest owners; in addition to Vargas Holding, Volkswagen and the American investment bank Goldman Sachs.
But the Swedish pension fund has also invested heavily; AMF, Folksam and the Swedish AP funds have contributed a total of approximately SEK 9 billion. Cristina Stenbeck and Spotify's Daniel Ek are also on the owner list.
Northvolt has also received tax money in the form of grants and loans. 2.5 billion from Swedish Export Credit and 12 billion in credit guarantees from the National Debt Office, the latter, however, has not been paid out yet. A number of requirements are linked to the payments.
Somewhere here was also the seed of the skepticism that began to germinate. Was it really reasonable for the state and other public funds to help finance Northvolt?
1/3
Northvolt i Skellefteå.
Northvolt in Skellefteå. Photo: Emma-Sofia Olsson
2/3
Emma-Sofia Olsson
Photo: Emma-Sofia Olsson
3/3
Photo: Emma-Sofia Olsson
It was a huge project. But it also involved huge risks. Shouldn't they be carried by private actors, the critics argued. What if everything crashes?
Around the same time as the critics began to sharpen their arguments, the production of the first battery cell began in the factory in Skellefteå. It was a big event for Peter Carlsson and Harald Mix but also for everyone involved in Skellefteå. It happened between Christmas and New Year 2021. They started cautiously. The goal of full production was set two years later, in 2023.
But it didn't turn out as planned.
The suppliers speak up
At first, the information about delays did not receive much attention. What did people expect? All startups suffer from childhood illnesses, that's part of it. This also involved an extra complicated manufacturing process.
But the dates for when full production would be reached continued to be pushed forward.
2023 became 2024.
2024 became 2025.
And last spring, the suppliers began to speak up. And it wasn't in a positive way. In an interview in SvD in March this year, Scania's CEO Christian Levin stated that they had not been able to deliver electric trucks because Northvolt had not picked up speed in production. Northvolt's problems had created headaches for Scania.
Now the bad news came blow by blow.
Just before midsummer, it was time again. This time from BMW. The company announced that it withdrew a giant order worth SEK 22 billion from Northvolt. BMW was dissatisfied both with delays and with the quality of the batteries it had received.
And just a few days later. A new cold shower. Northvolt scrapped the investment in a new battery factory in Borlänge. Instead, they wanted to quickly sell the industrial land to the municipality.
An explanation for why Northvolt pulled the emergency brake could be information that began to appear in the industry press and which was described as "a nightmare for Northvolt" .
Borlänge kommun blev lovad av Northvolt att de skulle bygga en batterifabrik i staden men nu är planerna nedlagda.
Borlänge municipality was promised by Northvolt that they would build a battery factory in the city, but now the plans have been cancelled. Photo: Lisa Hallgren
According to an analysis by Bloomberg research (Bloomberg NEF), there was an overcapacity of car batteries. The market is flooded with batteries, according to the analysis. The supply is five times greater than the demand. This at the same time as the demand for electric cars decreases.
Deaths at Northvolt
It was at this time that the curtain came down on the first act of this story. Until now it had been about financing, delays and production problems.
Now it was time for act number two. It would be about something completely different, much darker.
Suddenly, the newspapers were filled with reports of deaths among Northvolt employees, a total of four in 2024.
A police investigation was launched on June 21 to see if there was any connection between the deaths and their employment at Northvolt. Northvolt also started its own review. But no connection could be established, according to Northvolt. The police were also unable to find any connection, but their investigation is still ongoing.
Around the same time, Dagens Nyheter published an investigation which showed that 26 serious accidents had occurred at Northvolt's facilities since 2019. These were fatal accidents but also accidents with people who had lost an arm or a finger, got chemicals in their eyes or on their bodies, explosions, fires and employees who had inhaled hazardous gas or fumes.
No one from Northvolt's management wanted to comment on the data. The communications manager also did not want to appear for an interview for DN, but replied in writing that a "large number of changes" had been implemented to increase security.
Notifies employees
The third act began at the end of the summer. In the end, Peter Carlsson agreed to an interview with Dagen Industri . There he was both self-critical and problem-oriented.
"If you are to be a little self-reflective, we have been a little too aggressive in our expansion plan and that is what we are now reviewing," said Peter Carlsson to DI.
In the interview, he revealed that they are now reviewing the major international expansion plans, including the giant investments in Heide in Germany and Montréal in Canada. He further said that the image of Northvolt as a dangerous workplace felt foreign and that they "never, ever put a finger on safety."
And then he announced that the time to reach full production in Skellefteå had been postponed again, a third time. New date: sometime in 2026.
Northvolt i Skellefteå.
Northvolt in Skellefteå. Photo: Emma-Sofia Olsson
The interview was done about two months before the shock news that came on Monday. Early in the morning, Northvolt sent out a press release in English where it was written that it is forced to notify a large number of employees. CEO Peter Carlsson says in the press release that it is a tough financial situation and that part of the brand new factory must therefore be put in the mothballs.
Negotiations with the union begin immediately.
Few were prepared for this. The crisis had entered a new phase, and concerns spread quickly. On this day, SvD was on site outside Northvolt's gates and met IF Metall's chief protection officer Mikael Stenmark. He thought Northvolt should have moved more slowly.
- We have had an expansion rate that has been unparalleled. It would have been better if they had gotten a better grip on the whole process, he said.
What Peter Carlsson or any other of the 11 directors in the management group say, however, no one gets to know. No one from management came forward this day. And hasn't since either.
Hope lives on in Skellefteå, but the questions about the future are many.
Jan Almgren
Jan Almgren
Reporter SvD Näringsliv. Focus on banking and finance. Have been working…
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The Northvolt factory in Skellefteå. Archive image.
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Tue, 8:00 p.m
Related topics Northvolt – from green dreams to financial crisis
The plans were grand. A new gigafactory in Skellefteå would create jobs, faith in the future and millions of car batteries. Seven years later, it's about crisis, notice and a hard-to-reach CEO. What was it that happened?
Jan Almgren
Published10:33 am
Peter Carlsson laughs at his own analogy. The year is 2017 and Northvolt's CEO is interviewed in SVT's Aktuellt . He talks about the manufacturing capacity of the upcoming factory, "it will churn out approximately 3,500 car batteries per minute," he says. And then he comes up with the somewhat unexpected simile:
"'It is about 12 times as fast as children are born in the world.'
At this time, Northvolt was the hottest thing in Swedish business life. The plans for the battery factory became the image of the green transformation of society with renewable energy.
Manufacturing battery cells (lithium ion batteries) for existing and future electric cars was just right in time and received applause from all possible quarters. The then Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) was one of several politicians who spoke highly of the battery factory. "Northvolt will be of great importance to the world," stated Löfven in front of a large press gathering.
When it became clear that the giant industrial project would also be built in Norrland, more precisely in Skellefteå , the project gained even more attention. In the city of just over 70,000 inhabitants, the jubilation knew no bounds. This meant jobs, hope for the future and new investment for a region that had long struggled against the odds.
CEO Peter Carlsson received a lot of attention. He was sometimes called the "green Jesus" when he enthusiastically talked about how the gigafactory of the future would become a reality.
Fascination for the enormous
His background at Tesla was highlighted. For five years he was purchasing and logistics manager at the American electric car giant and worked closely with Elon Musk. He talked about that and much more in his Summer in P1 2021.
Anders Teljebäck from Västerås, Peter Carlsson, Northvolt's CEO, Mikael and Lorents Burman from Skellefteå, during a press meeting about Northvolt's battery factory in October 2017.
Anders Teljebäck from Västerås, Peter Carlsson, Northvolt's CEO, Mikael and Lorents Burman from Skellefteå, during a press meeting about Northvolt's battery factory in October 2017. Photo: Lars Pehrson
In 2023 it was Harald Mix's turn to speak in the same program, he together with Peter Carlsson is one of the founders of Northvolt, Mix is a key person in the story of the battery factory in the north.
Harald Mix is the super-entrepreneur, financial equilibrist and venture capitalist who has calculations for everything. He has founded the venture capital company Altor and started Vargas Holding. The latter is an investment company that is the third largest owner in Northvolt. Peter Carlsson and Harald Mix – were the pair of horses that would take Northvolt from dream to reality.
Right from the beginning, there had been a focus on finances. Initially with positive signs. There was a fascination with the enormous sums needed to get the factory in Skellefteå off the ground. And it wasn't just in Skellefteå that it was going to be built. It turned out that the plans were bigger than that. Much bigger.
The factory in Västerbotten was the first of a series of facilities that were planned. Northvolt also wanted to build factories and production units in Germany, Canada, Portugal and Poland. But also in more locations in Sweden, such as Gothenburg, Västerås and Borlänge.
A marathon in investments
To date, Northvolt has raised more than SEK 100 billion in funding in what has been described as a marathon in terms of capital investment.
The factory in Skellefteå alone is estimated to have cost around SEK 60 billion. The money has been received from banks and the largest owners; in addition to Vargas Holding, Volkswagen and the American investment bank Goldman Sachs.
But the Swedish pension fund has also invested heavily; AMF, Folksam and the Swedish AP funds have contributed a total of approximately SEK 9 billion. Cristina Stenbeck and Spotify's Daniel Ek are also on the owner list.
Northvolt has also received tax money in the form of grants and loans. 2.5 billion from Swedish Export Credit and 12 billion in credit guarantees from the National Debt Office, the latter, however, has not been paid out yet. A number of requirements are linked to the payments.
Somewhere here was also the seed of the skepticism that began to germinate. Was it really reasonable for the state and other public funds to help finance Northvolt?
1/3
Northvolt i Skellefteå.
Northvolt in Skellefteå. Photo: Emma-Sofia Olsson
2/3
Emma-Sofia Olsson
Photo: Emma-Sofia Olsson
3/3
Photo: Emma-Sofia Olsson
It was a huge project. But it also involved huge risks. Shouldn't they be carried by private actors, the critics argued. What if everything crashes?
Around the same time as the critics began to sharpen their arguments, the production of the first battery cell began in the factory in Skellefteå. It was a big event for Peter Carlsson and Harald Mix but also for everyone involved in Skellefteå. It happened between Christmas and New Year 2021. They started cautiously. The goal of full production was set two years later, in 2023.
But it didn't turn out as planned.
The suppliers speak up
At first, the information about delays did not receive much attention. What did people expect? All startups suffer from childhood illnesses, that's part of it. This also involved an extra complicated manufacturing process.
But the dates for when full production would be reached continued to be pushed forward.
2023 became 2024.
2024 became 2025.
And last spring, the suppliers began to speak up. And it wasn't in a positive way. In an interview in SvD in March this year, Scania's CEO Christian Levin stated that they had not been able to deliver electric trucks because Northvolt had not picked up speed in production. Northvolt's problems had created headaches for Scania.
Now the bad news came blow by blow.
Just before midsummer, it was time again. This time from BMW. The company announced that it withdrew a giant order worth SEK 22 billion from Northvolt. BMW was dissatisfied both with delays and with the quality of the batteries it had received.
And just a few days later. A new cold shower. Northvolt scrapped the investment in a new battery factory in Borlänge. Instead, they wanted to quickly sell the industrial land to the municipality.
An explanation for why Northvolt pulled the emergency brake could be information that began to appear in the industry press and which was described as "a nightmare for Northvolt" .
Borlänge kommun blev lovad av Northvolt att de skulle bygga en batterifabrik i staden men nu är planerna nedlagda.
Borlänge municipality was promised by Northvolt that they would build a battery factory in the city, but now the plans have been cancelled. Photo: Lisa Hallgren
According to an analysis by Bloomberg research (Bloomberg NEF), there was an overcapacity of car batteries. The market is flooded with batteries, according to the analysis. The supply is five times greater than the demand. This at the same time as the demand for electric cars decreases.
Deaths at Northvolt
It was at this time that the curtain came down on the first act of this story. Until now it had been about financing, delays and production problems.
Now it was time for act number two. It would be about something completely different, much darker.
Suddenly, the newspapers were filled with reports of deaths among Northvolt employees, a total of four in 2024.
A police investigation was launched on June 21 to see if there was any connection between the deaths and their employment at Northvolt. Northvolt also started its own review. But no connection could be established, according to Northvolt. The police were also unable to find any connection, but their investigation is still ongoing.
Around the same time, Dagens Nyheter published an investigation which showed that 26 serious accidents had occurred at Northvolt's facilities since 2019. These were fatal accidents but also accidents with people who had lost an arm or a finger, got chemicals in their eyes or on their bodies, explosions, fires and employees who had inhaled hazardous gas or fumes.
No one from Northvolt's management wanted to comment on the data. The communications manager also did not want to appear for an interview for DN, but replied in writing that a "large number of changes" had been implemented to increase security.
Notifies employees
The third act began at the end of the summer. In the end, Peter Carlsson agreed to an interview with Dagen Industri . There he was both self-critical and problem-oriented.
"If you are to be a little self-reflective, we have been a little too aggressive in our expansion plan and that is what we are now reviewing," said Peter Carlsson to DI.
In the interview, he revealed that they are now reviewing the major international expansion plans, including the giant investments in Heide in Germany and Montréal in Canada. He further said that the image of Northvolt as a dangerous workplace felt foreign and that they "never, ever put a finger on safety."
And then he announced that the time to reach full production in Skellefteå had been postponed again, a third time. New date: sometime in 2026.
Northvolt i Skellefteå.
Northvolt in Skellefteå. Photo: Emma-Sofia Olsson
The interview was done about two months before the shock news that came on Monday. Early in the morning, Northvolt sent out a press release in English where it was written that it is forced to notify a large number of employees. CEO Peter Carlsson says in the press release that it is a tough financial situation and that part of the brand new factory must therefore be put in the mothballs.
Negotiations with the union begin immediately.
Few were prepared for this. The crisis had entered a new phase, and concerns spread quickly. On this day, SvD was on site outside Northvolt's gates and met IF Metall's chief protection officer Mikael Stenmark. He thought Northvolt should have moved more slowly.
- We have had an expansion rate that has been unparalleled. It would have been better if they had gotten a better grip on the whole process, he said.
What Peter Carlsson or any other of the 11 directors in the management group say, however, no one gets to know. No one from management came forward this day. And hasn't since either.
Hope lives on in Skellefteå, but the questions about the future are many.
Jan Almgren
https://www.svd.se/a/VzQK6d/drommen-northvolt-vad-var-det-som-hande
