Stagling Northvolt will sell remaining stake in Battery Recycling to Hydro
By Marie Manns
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Norsk Hydro has become the sole owner of battery recycler Hydrovolt after the Norwegian aluminum maker agreed to buy the rest of Swedish battery maker Northvolt for 78 million Norwegian crowns ($6.79 million).
Northvolt, once touted as Europe’s best shot at championing home-grown electric vehicle batteries, has been shrinking and struggling to stay afloat after being hampered by manufacturing problems, the loss of key customer contracts and funding problems.
The battery maker entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. in November and has stopped funding nearly all of its joint ventures and non-core businesses over the past year.
The Norwegian company told Reuters in October that it had raised its stake in its end-of-life battery recycling business Hydrovolt and was financing the operation from the second half of 2024. He will now own 100%.
The Norwegian aluminum company announced in November that it would stop investing in battery businesses and start spinning them off, becoming the latest company to downsize in green technology.
Hydro told Reuters on Monday that it did not see the increased investment in Hydrovolt as inconsistent with that strategy.
A HydroVolt spokesperson said: “We view HydroVolt differently from other battery systems…HydroVolt has a recycling element close to Hydro’s other operations.”
“Battery recycling is something we discuss with our customers in the automotive industry, to whom we supply aluminum, so there are very few parallels here,” he added.
A spokesman said the company would no longer consider itself the sole owner of Hydrovolt and would seek a new partner.
“We need a partner to help develop hydrovolt and recycle batteries,” he said.
Northvolt says it will still have a business partnership with Hydrovolt, which Hydro is the buyer of the critical material known as black mass produced by recycled batteries.
Northvolt aims to focus solely on battery cell production and has divested, wound up and begun trying to sell other parts of the business, which include its on-site battery recycling unit Revolt.
This business is not what Hydro is considering buying, the spokesperson said.
“We don’t see it as a relevant buyer because it’s a little too close to the battery strategy that we’re exiting ourselves from,” he said.
Hydro expects to close the HydroVault transaction by the end of the quarter, and said the deal is subject to court approval pursuant to NorthVault’s Chapter 11 proceedings.