Northvolt Stock

The $5 billion construction is starting in Germany for Northvolt's battery plant.

Swedish lithium-ion battery producer Northvolt on Monday secured EU approval for 902-million-euro ($986.43 million) in German state aid to build an electric vehicle battery production plant in the north of Germany. The European Commission said the plant would accelerate the 27-country bloc's green transition and reduce fuel dependencies, and that the German aid was necessary as without it, Northvolt would build the plant in the United States with support from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.

Northvolt, an electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing company that’s privately owned, has had a breakthrough in the race to build EV batteries that do not require critical materials. The company develops EV battery manufacturing processes for critical materials including lithium-ion. However, Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson said the company has successfully created technology to produce sodium-ion batteries on a large scale. Developed alongside researcher Altris, the Northvolt sodium-ion batteries have added sustainability benefits by avoiding critical materials.