Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt has officially decided to build its gigafactory for electric vehicle batteries near Heide in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. A corresponding agreement has just been signed with the municipalities Lohe-Rickelshof and Norderwöhrden. The municipalities are going to decide on the land use planning in the coming days. A building permit has not yet been issued.
Start of production planned for 2026
Plans for the factory are to start production in 2026. When fully expanded, the plant is scheduled to have an annual production capacity of 60 gigawatt-hours from 2029. At the same time, a recycling facility for spent batteries will also be built. Northvolt plans to create around 3,000 jobs with a total investment of 4.5 billion euros. According to the company, it has already invested around 100 million euros of its own funds in the project.
State aid already approved by the EU
The federal and state governments are supporting the project with a total of around 700 million euros. In addition, there are guarantees amounting to 202 million euros. The aid had already been approved by the EU Commission in early January 2024.
