Friday 13 December 2019

Swedish firm wins €5.8m for battery recycling plant

Swedish firm wins €5.8m for battery recycling plant

Fresh investment totalling €5.8 million (£4.8m) has been announced for Swedish company Northvolt, which is developing a pilot battery recycling facility in the country.

The money from InnoEnergy, Europe’s sustainable energy innovation engine, with support from the EU and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), will be invested in Northvolt’s ‘Revolt’ programme, which will implement the latest discoveries in efficient materials recovery methods for batteries.

It will be followed by a full-scale version at Northvolt’s site in Skellefteå, which aims to use 50% recycled materials in all its new battery cells by 2030.

The pilot plant is expected to come online in 2020 and will initially target 100 tons of recycling capacity per year.

The company is also developing a battery Gigafactory in Sweden, will produce 32GWh worth of battery capacity annually once completed.

Peter Carlsson, CEO Northvolt, said: “It is clear that recycling batteries at end-of-life is critical to delivering a comprehensive model for sustainable lithium-ion batteries. With this programme, Northvolt will be able to recover valuable materials from cells and return them to manufacturing flows.

“Recycling will reduce the need for mining raw materials, improve security of supply and lower the environmental footprint of Northvolt cells by reducing mining-related emissions.”

He welcomed the investment from InnoEnergy as the company takes the next step in developing a blueprint for sustainable battery manufacturing.

The Swedish firm is also building a 16GWh battery Gigafactory in Germany under a joint venture with Volkswagen, which is investing around $1 billion.

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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