Sweden’s Northvolt, Taiwan’s Prologium and China’s EVE Power all plan to build battery factories on European soil. Northvolt has picked the town of Heide, north of Hamburg, to build a multi-billion-euro facility to supply Volkswagen. The announcement was originally expected last year, but high energy prices and new US incentives pushed it out until the European Commission provided more clarity about state aid rules. Simplification of procedures and commitments from German local and federal authorities have convinced the Swedish company to stay in Europe.
Prologium intends to set up shop in Dunkerque to supply Renault. The 5.2-billion-euro factory and R&D center is the company’s first facility outside its home base. That’s a strategic choice, management told reporters: because of geopolitical tensions, Prologium doesn’t want to concentrate all operations in Taiwan. Incentives provided by the French government helped sweeten the deal.
EVE Power, finally, is building a 1-billion-euro battery factory in eastern Hungary, near a BMW plant that’s being constructed.