The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) announced Thursday an investment of around CAN 200 million in Northvolt AB, a platform that specializes in research and development, manufacturing and recycling of sustainable battery systems and cells.
CDPQ explains that this financing, in the form of convertible debt in the parent company located in Sweden, will contribute to the completion of the Northvolt Six project announced this fall which will allow the construction of a large battery factory in Montérégie.
The first vice-president and head, Quebec of the CDPQ, Kim Thomassin, explains that the Caisse believes that the battery sector will experience strong expansion in the next decade and that it wishes to benefit from this to its depositors. Mme Thomassin adds that this technology will have a favorable impact on the energy transition.
For his part, Paolo Cerruti, co-founder of Northvolt and CEO of Northvolt in North America, affirms in a joint press release with the CDPQ that the Caisse actively contributed to the arrival of the future factory in Quebec.
At the beginning of the month, Northvolt acquired 18.5 million square feet of land located in McMasterville and Saint-Basile-le-Grand to realize its factory project. The company confirmed that the transaction was concluded for an amount of 240 million.
Northvolt will receive colossal financial assistance of 7.3 billion from the governments of Canada and Quebec to carry out its project. Last month, the company said it plans to prepare the factory site this fall, begin construction of some buildings in 2024, deliver products to customers in 2026 and complete the first phase of construction in 2028.