Monday 30 May 2022

Hydro from Statkraft to power Norway’s first battery gigafactory

The first battery gigafactory in Norway is to be powered by a hydropower plant under a new deal with Statkraft.

FREYR Battery, a developer of next-generation battery cell production capacity, has signed a binding agreement with Statkraft covering the years from 2024 to 2031 for its first two gigafactories.

The binding 'Head of Terms' will be finalised as a long term physical supply agreement of power for FREYR's facilities in Mo i Rana in Norway.

Under the deal, Statkraft has committed to provide 23MW of capacity, with an accumulated 1.4TWh from its hydropower assets, specifically the 500MW Rana hydropower plant.

FREYR's combined gigafactory will have an annual production capacity of 13GWh.

It is part of the company's plans to deliver up to 43GWh of battery cell capacity by 2025 and up to 83GWh of annual capacity by 2028.

Tove Nilsen Ljungquist, EVP Operations of FREYR said: “Our ambition is to produce clean battery cells and a key element of our strategy is to power our operations with renewable energy. This agreement with Statkraft ensures that our production facilities in Mo i Rana will have a steady, long term supply of hydropower from local sources – keeping our carbon footprint to a minimum as we speed forward to full operations.”