Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden

On March 12, the Board of Directors of Northvolt AB announced that it has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden.

Ultimately, with limited time and financial resources available, the company was unable to conclude the necessary agreements to secure its future. As pointed out by Northvolt, “the entities Northvolt AB, Northvolt Ett AB, Northvolt Labs AB, Northvolt Revolt AB and Northvolt Systems AB filed with the Swedish court. Northvolt Germany and Northvolt North America are not filing for bankruptcy in their respective jurisdictions. As wholly owned subsidiaries of Northvolt AB, any decisions regarding these entities will be made by the court-appointed trustee of Northvolt AB in consultation with the Group’s lenders at the appropriate time”.

in February, Scania took over Northvolt’s heavy-duty battery pack business.

Northvolt: it’s bankruptcy in Sweden

“Like many companies in the battery sector, Northvolt has experienced a series of compounding challenges in recent months that eroded its financial position, including rising capital costs, geopolitical instability, subsequent supply chain disruptions, and shifts in market demand”, stated the Swedish player in an official note published on the website. Despite pursuing all available options to negotiate and implement a financial restructuring, including a Chapter 11 restructuring process in the United States, and despite liquidity support from our lenders and key counterparties, the company was unable to secure the necessary financial conditions to continue in its current form”. 

“This is an incredibly difficult day for everyone at Northvolt. We set out to build something groundbreaking — to drive real change in the battery, EV and wider European industry and accelerate the transition to a green and sustainable future”, declared Tom Johnstone, Interim Chairman of Northvolt’s Board of Directors. “The outcome is especially hard considering not only the level of engagement and interest we held with potential partners and investors in recent months, but also the clear improvement and upwards trajectory that we have been seeing in Northvolt’s production in Skellefteå, where cell output from serial production lines has doubled and we have secured a 50% improvement in production yield since September.”

“We ramped up production to meet customers’ needs, reduced operational cash outflow by 55%, made tough decisions to pause or delay expansion plans, completed divestitures and ultimately delivered our first one million battery cells to a European customer. These battery cells are produced with 100% fossil-free energy and represent the most sustainable products of their type in the world. They are based on technology developed in Sweden and invented at Northvolt Labs, the most sophisticated battery R&D facility outside of Asia”, Johnstone added. “For me personally, it remains key for Europe to have a homegrown battery industry, but it is a marathon to build such an industry. It needs patience and long-term commitment from all stakeholders.”