Volkswagen has started construction of its 40GWh battery cell gigafactory in Salzgitter, Germany, and the company plans to dedicate capacity to grid-scale energy storage in future.

European gigafactory company Northvolt has signed a US$1.1 billion convertible note to finance the expansion of its lithium-ion battery production, ahead of a potential IPO in the next two years.

Commercial operations have begun at the Hydrovolt battery recycling plant in Norway, a joint venture (JV) between Norwegian materials processing company Hydro and Sweden-headquartered lithium battery manufacturing startup Northvolt.

New sodium-ion battery production facilities have been announced in the US and Sweden by Natron Energy and Altris, respectively, with both set to start production in 2023.

Emad Zand, president of Northvolt Systems, on factors impacting the growth of a European battery storage industry.

Northvolt intends to build its third gigafactory in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Northvolt has agreed to acquire a site in Sweden where it will develop its planned gigafactory, capable of producing 100GWh of cathode materials.

Northvolt has announced an expansion to its R&D centre in Sweden which will turn the facility into “Europe’s leading campus for battery technologies”.

Companies in the battery storage industry raised US$9.6 billion in corporate funding during H1 2021, with European manufacturing startup Northvolt once again the biggest single recipient of venture capital (VC) investment.

Energy storage technology provider Fluence and battery gigafactory startup Northvolt will collaborate to develop “next-generation battery technology for grid-scale storage applications,” the companies said today.