Freyr joins Nidec in Energy Storage Solutions business
Freyr has found its first major customer for battery cells from its debut factory in Rana, Norway. The Norwegian battery company struck a deal with the Japanese Nidec Corporation to supply 38 GWh of LFP battery cells from 2025 to 2030, with the option to increase the volume.
The binding cell sales agreement includes an option for another 50 GWh during that period and additional volumes beyond 2030. Freyr says the contract has an estimated gross value in excess of $3 billion from 2025 to 2030, representing one of the largest battery cell contracts globally to date.
This is because the cells will not be used in electric vehicles: Nidec, known primarily as an electric motor manufacturer and reportedly partner to Stellantis, is also a provider of stationary battery energy storage solutions, BESS for short, for industry and utilities. It is this segment, where Nidec will use the cells from Freyr.
Freyr and Nidec have also agreed to form a joint venture to combine the cells into integrated BESS solutions in the form of modules and packages. Nidec will hold a “super-majority” in the downstream JV.
Freyr also stressed this was a “key project financing milestone” for the company’s facility in Mo i Rana, Norway, currently under construction. Called Giga Arctic, the factory has an initial capacity of 29 GWh when it comes online in 2024. By 2030, Freyr targets a production capacity of 200 GWh.
Tom Einar Jensen, the Freyr CEO, said that the “landmark sales agreement” represented roughly 50% of their targeted production from Giga Arctic by 2030. He also called the joint venture a “fundamentally important milestone to support the conclusion of our ongoing project financing efforts at competitive terms”.
The Freyr Board had approved the Rana factory in June. Already at the time, Freyr envisioned allocating about half of Giga Arctic’s production capacity to “long-term offtake partners”. The remaining volume will be reserved “to address exponentially growing market demand”, and the company credits this plan with the potential of $2 billion in sales per year.
As for technology, Freyr is a licensee of 24M. The company has also called its cells semi-solid. At Mo i Rana, Freyr will use 100% hydroelectric energy through a dedicated Power Purchase Agreement with Statkraft.
Nidec claims to have installed 1.3 GW of ESS at 121 energy storage projects in 21 countries, including Europe, South America, and Africa. The company plans to increase its presence in EMEA and expand into North America and China.
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