The Swedish company Northvolt will soon expand its Northvolt Labs located in Västerås, thanks to a huge investment of 750 million dollars. The aim is to establish «the world’s first R&D campus covering the entire battery ecosystem». Northvolt Labs will then host a unique ecosystem of capacities for catalyzing advances in the emerging European battery industry and lead to employment of some 1,000 people.

A new campus at Northvolt Labs

The new campus will be built out from Northvolt Labs, the existing cell industrialization plant with adjacent testing facilities and the Revolt pilot recycling plant, which will feed recycled raw materials directly into on-site production. The campus will provide customers with access to a toolbox spanning the full-spectrum of value-chain activities relating to lithium-ion battery design, development and lifecycle, from active materials and cell design, through to battery systems and recycling.

Northvolt is a primary brand in battery development in Europe. The Group had announced the intention to sign a joint venture with Volvo, while the collaboration with Volkswagen brought about 900 million euro investments back in 2019. The first new facility is already under construction – an R&D center which will enable development of novel battery cell materials and products, thereby widening the scope of Northvolt’s ability to meet increasing demand for customized solutions, whilst also pushing the boundary on next-generation cell technologies. In parallel, a new 15,000 square meter office is under development to support an increase in headcount from 400 persons today to at least 1,000 persons who will work at Northvolt Labs.

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Additionally, a new customer center will be established to serve as a space for partners, start-ups, scale-ups and academia, to meet, collaborate and collectively drive forward European industry players engaged in battery technologies and electrification.

Willing to drive the transition towards sustainable battery solutions

«There is today an irreversible momentum surrounding the switch to battery electric solutions. Northvolt Labs is being expanded in order to capitalize on this – to drive the transition at even greater speed towards safe, sustainable battery solutions. By establishing a campus where industrial actors can engage, surrounded by all necessary facilities, it is our belief that we can create the necessary foundation for Europe to emerge as the leading region for a technology that is at the heart of the race to decarbonize», commented Peter Carlsson, Co-Founder and CEO of Northvolt.

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