Faced with a difficult financial situation, Northvolt announced Monday its intention to reduce its activities worldwide and cut jobs. The industrial megaproject planned in Montérégie is still on the agenda, but delays are to be expected, the Swedish multinational reiterated.
“We must take firm action to secure the foundations of Northvolt’s operations to improve our financial stability and strengthen our operational performance,” group CEO Peter Carlsson said in a statement.
Northvolt will thus focus its efforts on the production of battery cells in its giant factory in Skellefteå, in northern Sweden, but will also set aside part of the production on this site – that of active cathode materials – with a reduction in the number of jobs, not quantified in the press release. The company, which employed 5,860 people at the end of 2023, also confirmed its intention to review the pace of its international development in Germany and Quebec.
In the case of its industrial project in Montérégie, subsidized by Quebec and Ottawa, the company nevertheless reiterates that it does not intend to abandon the development already underway on the site where wetlands and wooded areas have already been destroyed in recent months. In addition to the Northvolt Six plant, currently under construction, there is talk of a cathode manufacturing project and another plant, called Revolt, dedicated to battery recycling.
Are the three components of the megaproject assured of being completed? “We are continuing the construction of the cell assembly building as well as the design of the Revolt plant and the cathode manufacturing buildings,” the company said in a written response to questions from the Duty.
Northvolt still needs to obtain government authorizations for the development of its cell assembly plant, particularly with regard to the pumping and discharge of water into the Richelieu River. For all the projects planned on Northvolt’s land, this involves 9 billion liters of water per year.
The Revolt project must undergo a complete environmental assessment procedure, including an impact study and a review by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE).
Deadlines and BAPE
Furthermore, even if details are still to be specified regarding Northvolt’s deadlines in Montérégie, there is already talk of additional delays of 12 to 18 months, information relayed by The Press.
Could these delays open the door to a BAPE review for the stages of the Northvolt Six project that have not yet been approved by the Quebec government? “No,” was the simple response from the office of Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette.
Such a review is “theoretically” possible, according to the Quebec Centre for Environmental Law, but only for aspects of the project that have not yet been authorized and that do not fall under federal jurisdiction. In this case, however, Minister Charette would have to make a recommendation to the government.
Environmental groups and citizen groups in the region where Northvolt will operate have repeatedly called for a BAPE to be held, a request reiterated in recent days due to the expected delays in the completion of the largest industrial project in Quebec’s history.
Benoit Charette admitted earlier this year that he had “adapted Quebec’s environmental regulations” to allow projects in the battery sector to be exempted from the BAPE analysis process. All this in the context of a “global race” in the battery and electric car production sector. With a BAPE, “it’s certain [que Northvolt] “would have chosen another place to set up,” Mr. Charette said, adding that the entire process would have taken at least 18 months.