Swedish battery start-up Northvolt announced that it will sell its industrial battery unit in Gdańsk, Poland, to Swedish truckmaker Scania. The unit supplies batteries for mining, agriculture, and construction equipment industries. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but Svenska Dagbladet reported that Northvolt is expected to receive less than €8.9 million—significantly lower than the €143 million it had planned to invest in the Gdańsk facility in 2021. The transaction is still subject to approval from Swedish regulators. Scania, one of Northvolt’s key customers and investors, contributed an additional $100 million to the battery maker last year. This came after Northvolt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, following severe production delays at its Skellefteå plant in the sub-Arctic region, leaving the company in need of up to €1.15 billion to recover. Before its financial struggles, Northvolt had secured over €48 billion in orders from major automakers, including Volkswagen—which owns Scania—Porsche, and BMW, but struggled to scale up production fast enough. In response, the company has revised its expansion strategy. Last month, Northvolt agreed to transfer full ownership of Novo Energy, a joint venture with Volvo Cars, to Volvo for the construction of a battery factory in Gothenburg. Additionally, it sold its remaining stake in battery recycling company Hydrovolt to Norsk Hydro. These moves are part of Northvolt’s broader efforts to complete its restructuring by the end of March.
