Northvolt to open new battery factory by 2026

CEO says company is committed amid challenges

Swedish manufacturer Northvolt says it’s forging ahead with plans to open an electric vehicle battery megaplant near Montreal by 2026, despite a tight timeline and opposition from environmental groups.

The company’s North American CEO said Wednesday the company still has to get about a dozen different authorizations to complete construction on the project, including permits to erect its buildings and to draw water from the Richelieu River and discharge it.

Paolo Cerruti told reporters in Montreal there’s a risk that comes with investing billions in a project without all the permits, but the company has faith in the technology it’s trying to build.

Cerruti said he has been surprised by the public criticism of the project, including by an environmental group that unsuccessfully went to court seeking to halt construction. But he said the project is a marathon and not a sprint, and that the company is committed to remaining in Quebec for many years.

Cerruti said Northvolt has finished cutting trees on one portion of its site that straddles the communities of McMasterville and St-Basile-le-Grand, and is planning to develop roads and temporary stormwater drainage systems on the property southeast of Montreal. Northvolt also plans to submit the documents for the portions of its project that are subject to an environmental assessment by the province’s Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement — or BAPE — by the end of the year, and will eventually make them public.

The company claims the batteries it will build will have a carbon footprint that is 90 per cent less than its main competitors, who are based in China.

Northvolt CEO Paolo Cerruti said there’s a risk that comes with investing billions in a project without all the permits, but the company has faith in the technology it’s trying to build