Morrow Batteries, founded in Norway last year, is taking the first steps to building a gigafactory in Norway with plans to start construction of the industrialization center for battery technology later this year.
"Morrow Industrialization Centre will be crucial to our success in product development and scaling up our activity to the level of our planned Gigafactory," Terje Andersen, chief executive of privately held Morrow Batteries, said in a statement this week.
Earlier this year, Morrow Batteries entered into a letter of intent with the Arendal municipality to build what it says would be the world's most sustainable battery manufacturing in Arendal in southern Norway. The first construction phase of the next-generation battery factory is set to start in 2023, the company said.
"The short way to Europe, by sea, means that we get a good starting point to develop the world's greenest batteries to the European market," CEO Andersen said in January.
"The big and increasing demand for electrification in the transport sector and industry processes have made batteries a bottle-neck in the green transition. Home-grown European battery manufacturing is key to a sustainable future going forward," the executive noted.
Renewable electricity from hydropower in the Nordic region has attracted other companies to the battery development market in the Scandinavian region.
Last year, Norway's major Equinor signed an agreement with Panasonic and industrial group Hydro to form a strategic partnership that would explore possibilities for establishing a sustainable and cost-competitive European battery business.
Battery cell maker Northvolt, which has BMW and Volkswagen as customers, raised in September $600 million in equity to invest in capacity expansion, R&D, and a giga-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility next to the Northvolt Ett gigafactory in Sweden, which is expected to begin battery production in 2021.
Last year, total corporate funding for the battery storage, smart grid, and energy efficiency sectors more than doubled to $8.1 billion from $3.8 billion in 2019.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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