(Bloomberg) — Northvolt AB assembled its first battery cell at a factory in Skelleftea in northern Sweden, meeting its deadline to start production at the site before the year is over.
Made on Dec. 28, the lithium-ion cell is the first to have been designed and produced at a large-scale factory by a homegrown European company, Northvolt said Wednesday.
“We look forward to Northvolt Ett expanding its production capacity greatly to enable the European transition to clean energy,” Chief Executive Officer Peter Carlsson said in a statement.
Northvolt, with a stated ambition to shift the balance of battery-making power to Europe from Asia, said it has now secured more than $30 billion worth of contracts from electric-car manufacturers including BMW AG, Volkswagen AG, Volvo Car AB and Polestar.
The plant’s production capacity will increase toward 60 gigawatt-hours a year in the coming years. Northvolt said it plans to make cells of varying formats with commercial deliveries starting next year.
Investors in Northvolt include Volkswagen, BMW, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Tesla Inc. shareholder Baillie Gifford. Spotify Technology SA CEO Daniel Ek also is a backer.
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