Construction of Volvo Cars and Northvolt’s joint Li-on battery gigafactory in Gothenburg, Sweden, is underway. Once complete, it will be among the largest in Europe, with over 3,000 employees and potential to produce batteries for around half a million cars per year.
During the summer, Novo Energy, the joint company, had its environmental permit for the new plant approved. In August, the City Planning Committee in Gothenburg also approved the building permit for the first phase. The building will include the first production line, which is expected to be operational in late 2026.
Novo Energy’s R&D activities at Lindholmen are expanding at a fast pace. There, specialists and engineers are developing tomorrow’s batteries for Volvo and Polestar cars.
When complete, the new battery gigafactory in Gothenburg will have a potential annual cell production capacity of up to 50 gigawatt hours (GWh).
Purified wastewater will be used to cool the plant, which is unique at this scale. Two large pipes, one meter in diameter, are currently being laid to transport the water from the region’s wastewater plant to the gigafactory, and opposite, a distance of six kilometres.
Göteborg Energi and Vattenfall are building a power station north of the site for connecting the gigafactory to the regional grid’s 130 kV power line. Preparatory work is also underway, among other things, to connect the site to the district heating, water, stormwater and wastewater systems.
Building the gigafactory will involve a large number of construction jobs, as well as increased traffic. Work is underway to facilitate the building process and reduce the impact on people working in the area and society at large. This involves temporary housing for construction workers and solutions for handling increased traffic volumes to the area in Torslanda.
The City of Gothenburg has decided to establish a training center for electromobility and battery manufacturing at Lindholmen. There, employees, as well as high school students, adult students and students at vocational colleges will be able to be trained in modern learning environments. The City of Gothenburg and Region Västra Götaland are each investing SEK 45 million (approx. EUR 4 million) in the training center, which is expected to open in autumn 2024.