Siemens supporting Northvolt with Swedish “Gigafactory”
The battery firm Northvolt, run by former Tesla manager Peter Carlsson, will be received assistance for their planned major serial battery production plant for lithium-ion cells from Siemens.
Both companies announced the partnership will entail Siemens as a technology partner with an investment of 10 million euros. When the production facility is opened in 2020, Siemens will purchase batteries from the location and list Northvolt as a preferred supplier.
Siemens is viewing the Northvolt initiative as a reference project for future battery production, which builds on integration and digitalization of the entire value chain: from battery cell design to the planning of production processes, engineering and production and finally to services.
Jan Mrosik, CEO of Siemens Digital Factory division commented: “We are happy to support Northvolt in building the battery factory of the future. With our Digital Enterprise portfolio, we contribute to a competitive battery cell production in Europe that fully exploits the benefits of software and automation: greater flexibility, efficiency and quality with shorter time to market” Northvolt founder Peter Carlsson added: “With its world-class expertise within electrification, automation and digitalization, Siemens will become an important technology partner, supplier and customer to Northvolt in this coming transition.” Using the Siemens Digital Enterprise portfolio from the planning and software inception, including cloud computing, will enable Northvolt to optimize their battery production process at every step, providing strategic advantages.
The first customer for the future batteries was the utility vehicle manufacturer Scania, which is owned by VW. They will also develop and market specially adapted batteries for utility vehicles together, as part of the agreement. Scania also invested 10 million euros for the partnership. Siemens will also need batteries for trains and industrial robots, according to Mrosik.
The Northvolt Gigafactory will be built in the Swedish city Skellefteå, where production is scheduled to begin in 2020 with around 2,000 employees and an annual production volume of 8 GWh. By 2023 the production will reach 32 GWh.
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