The Norwegian ‘clear battery’ maker Freyr now plans to construct a number of battery gigafactories in Northern Norway.
From Mo i Rana to New York! Freyr Battery turned the eighth Norwegian firm to listing on the New York Inventory Change final week. The corporate is anticipated to obtain roughly $850 million in fairness proceeds.
The profitable itemizing follows a enterprise mixture with Alussa Power Acquisition Corp. Now working because the mixed firm Freyr Battery, the inventory is listed on the New York Inventory Change underneath the ticker image FREY.
The cash raised shall be used to construct new factories in Mo i Rana, an industrial centre within the north of Norway. “We imagine this is without doubt one of the largest industrial investments in Norway within the post-war interval. Some say it’s the greatest,” Freyr CEO Tom Einar Jensen informed NRK.
Norway is well-known as a pacesetter in electrical automotive gross sales and infrastructure growth. A number of firms are additionally taking an curiosity in electric-powered aviation.
But it surely’s now trying growing possible that the nation will play an enormous function within the manufacturing of the batteries wanted to energy the electrification revolution.
A brand new battery hub in Northern Norway
Freyr is growing lithium-ion based mostly battery cell services to provide excessive power density and cost-competitive clear batteries to quickly rising markets.
The corporate will benefit from Norway’s established low-cost, renewable hydropower and in future, wind energy, to maintain prices low and manufacturing inexperienced.
Curiosity within the Mo i Rana based mostly firm has grown rapidly. Now it plans to make use of the cash raised to construct 5 gigafactories within the Mo i Rana area, which might convey hundreds of much-needed jobs into Northern Norway.
“We’ve secured a number of plots of land within the industrial park at Mo, together with a constructing by the marina the place we’ll begin a pilot manufacturing facility. Then we’ll construct 4 new factories in fast succession,” stated Jensen.
Within the new services, Freyr plans to provide battery cells equal to 800,000 electrical vehicles yearly. Jensen hopes to have the primary manufacturing up and working in 2022.
A brand new trade for Norway
Ole Erik Almlid is the pinnacle of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO). He believes Norway has very massive potential for battery manufacturing to turn into an necessary new Norwegian trade within the years to come back. There’s good entry to renewable power and lots of industrial and port areas.
“We see very massive potential in battery manufacturing. We’re speaking about as much as 30,000 jobs by 2030. This will imply quite a bit to Norwegian native communities,” he stated.
Freyr is not the one participant in battery manufacturing. Morrow is planning a battery manufacturing facility in Arendal, whereas Hydro, Panasonic and Equinor are searching for websites for their very own battery funding initiatives.
World battery demand hovering
With the continued electrification of our planet, it ought to come as no shock to study that demand for battery expertise has by no means been increased.
But there are only a few massive manufacturing services in Europe, not to mention Norway. There’s a good probability that your electrical automotive is produced with batteries made in China from coal-fired energy.
However there’s extra to battery demand than electrical vehicles. Evaluation firm Rystad Power informed NRK that batteries shall be a vital part of the long run sensible energy grid.
“There’s a massive marketplace for batteries within the grid energy trade. Batteries have turn into the most cost effective approach to retailer energy. Photo voltaic and wind energy produce electrical energy a couple of hours a day. This energy have to be saved,” stated CEO Jarand Rystad.
