Northvolt, Swedish symbol of European electricity failure

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Nothing seemed to stop Northvolt, the Swedish start-up of “green” electric batteries supposed to mark the European industrial revival. But today, the group is laying off workers, abandoning its projects and fighting for its survival. 

Once again, Europe is running out of fuel. While China and the United States are leading the battery race, the strategic flaws and poorly calibrated ambitions of the Old Continent are becoming increasingly apparent.

Despite raising $15 billion since its founding in 2016, Northvolt has failed to deliver on its production promises and is left with empty coffers. What was supposed to symbolise Europe’s green economic resilience is turning into a fiasco. At the end of 2023, the Swedish press highlighted worrying delays and a critical threshold reached in June, with the loss of a colossal BMW contract. The Swedish state itself remains on the sidelines, granting only meager subsidies, compared to the massive aid from Germany and Canada. That being said, as reported by Le Monde, the majority of Swedes consider that the government has no place in this affair, and some specialists rather note excessive ambitions: “Starting from nothing and being competitive in a few years” against China and Japan is unexpected, according to Magnus Henrekson, economist at the Industrial Economics Research Institute.

For his part, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson categorically rejects the idea of ​​nationalization. But the social-democratic opposition denounces “culpable passivity” in the face of such a strategic issue.

Voices are being raised to remind people of the pitfalls of the sector: Greger Ledung, an expert at the Swedish Energy Agency, notes that global battery production is in its infancy and that Europe must focus on an overall strategy. For him, Northvolt cannot be an isolated case; it is a matter of European industrial autonomy in key sectors such as the automobile and defense industries.

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