After battery manufacturer Northvolt has halted the planned expansion of its production facility in Skellefteå in northern Sweden, news agency Reuters reports that this will have a direct impact on the projectʼs financing, which was in place at the beginning of 2024.
Loans to triple production capacity
The financing from January included a five-billion-dollar loan package to triple Northvoltʼs production capacity. The lenders include the European Investment Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank, and more than 20 commercial banks. The Swedish National Debt Office had provided guarantees totalling 1.5 billion US dollars. However, according to Reuters, the money is unlikely to be paid out for the time being because of the delay.
Disbursement in near future unlikely
Karolina Ekholm, director of the National Debt Office, said that the guarantees would only apply if the original agreements were honored. As the extension has been put on hold, a disbursement in the near future is unlikely. The European Investment Bank, which is contributing more than one billion US dollars to the financing, also confirmed that its previous loans to Northvolt still stem from an earlier loan from 2020 and should be refinanced as part of the new package.
