Quebec Secures $7B Northvolt Battery Plant
Swedish battery maker Northvolt will spend $7 billion to build a new factory in Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Quebec, the largest private investment ever in the province. Work will begin later this year.
The company made the announcement on Thursday morning along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Prime Minister François Legault, among others.
- Also: Ford Pauses Work on $3.5B Battery Plant in Michigan
- Also: GM to Build Battery Modules at CAMI Plant in Ontario
EV-friendly Quebec will spend $1.4 billion of its own for construction and up to $1.5 billion in production incentives.
The site, which will cover an area the size of 318 football fields, is expected to create more than 3,000 jobs. It will have an annual capacity of 60 GWh.
“Northvolt’s decision to build a plant in Quebec once again shows how the province and Quebec workers are attractive to the rest of the world,” Trudeau said.
“We have in Northvolt Six enormous potential, not only to rapidly expand our ability to bring sustainable batteries into markets of North America, but to accelerate Quebec’s emergence as a key actor in the global energy transition," said Northvolt Co-Founder Paolo Cerruti. "With its unique access to renewable power and raw materials, we see this as the ideal base of operations for Northvolt’s first gigafactory outside of Europe. We look forward to engagement with all local stakeholders and the province, to make Northvolt Six a textbook example of sustainable investment.”
When operational, the Canadian government anticipates the Northvolt plant in Quebec to give the Canadian economy a $1.6 billion boost.
This major announcement comes on the heels of Ford suspending construction of a giant $3.5 billion USD battery plant in Michigan to assess the site’s future economic viability.
Back in July, construction at Stellantis’ new EV battery plant in Windsor, Ontario resumed after NextStar Energy (the joint venture between Stellantis and LG Energy Solution) signed a binding agreement that secures the future of battery cell and module production and honours the commitments that were made by the Canadian government to level the playing field with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Ottawa will grant NextStar Energy up to $10 billion in production tax credits, while the Ontario government will offer up to $5 billion.
Earlier in the year, the Trudeau administration also pledged up to $13.2 billion in subsidies over 10 years for Volkswagen's first overseas battery plant, to be built in St. Thomas, Ontario.