All signs that Northvolt's money is running out

Published 15 September 2024 at 16.07

Economics. Bills are piling up at the Kronofogden, factories are closing, management has gone underground and employees are not reimbursed for travel on duty. Reports in recent days suggest that sustainability giant Northvolt is already on the wane.

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The new announcement to pause spending and travel was announced internally on Friday.< /p>

“As we announced in a press release on Monday, we are making a number of tough decisions to keep costs down. These measures are part of that work,” writes Northvolt's communications manager Matti Kataja to SVT Västerbotten.

At the same time, SVT reports that the bills are piling up at the Kronofogden. So far, invoices to Northvolt totaling SEK 121 million have resulted in applications for payment orders with that authority.

Earlier this week, the company announced, among other things, that parts of the Skellefteå factory will be closed.

The company has so far struggled with speeding up production and selling batteries as planned, which took time. A planned new issue in which owners would contribute money failed in the autumn, because not enough people wanted to contribute capital.

The management, which does not answer questions, has also rejected the idea of ​​a reconstruction. In principle, the company must therefore manage to save money and at the same time start selling batteries on a large scale, in order not to go bankrupt.

– If they cannot show that they can get the factory up and running properly, then it does not help that they cut back on everything else. Skellefteå must work to begin with, otherwise it will be difficult to get the owners, above all Volkswagen, to push for more money. Then they can end up in a death spiral instead, says SVT's economic commentator Alexander Norén in a comment to his state employer.