Sweco wins process design assignment for one of Norway’s first battery factories
Press release by Sweco Finland
2.5.2023, Helsinki
The new battery plant Batterifabrikk 1, built by Morrow in Arendal Norway, is one of the first steps in starting industrial scale battery production in Norway. The pilot plant completed later this year will have an annual capacity of 1 GWh.
Sweco´s assignment includes the dimensioning and design of the plant’s commodity distribution. Good planning ensures that the equipment, machines and operating systems of the cell plant are seamlessly linked together to ensure the plant’s operations and set production targets. The assignment will be carried out within Sweco Group as a crossborder cooperation between Sweco Norway and Sweco Finland.
The development of the battery plant is an extensive and complex integration project. The project involves many moving parts and numerous partners. The production of battery cells requires a large number of production machines and equipment for processing raw materials and components.
“We are very pleased to have competent partners like Sweco. Acting as a link between equipment suppliers, contractors and manufacturers is crucial to the operation of the plant”, says Andreas Maier, Chief Operating and Plant Construction Officer at Morrow.
The learnings gathered from Batterifabrikk 1 will be utilized in the development of an industrial-scale facility planned to start production in 2028. The plant capacity will be 43 GWh.
“It is very interesting to be supporting the development of Morrow and the Norwegian battery industry in this interesting project. Sweco’s absolute asset is its ability to form a high-quality international team of experts for various battery projects,” says Battery Industry Lead Hannu Johto at Sweco Finland.
Sweco is involved in major battery projects in the Nordic countries, such as the Northvolt battery plant in Sweden, the construction of Terrafame’s battery material plant in Finland and the development of Keliber’s lithium plant in Finland.
According to calculations by the European Parliament, global demand for batteries will increase 14-fold by 2030, of which the EU could produce as much as 17%.
“The Nordic countries have clearly realised that the battery industry is about a significant industrial transformation and a business opportunity as part of the green transition. Batteries have never been so relevant in society before. It is still important to make sure that the battery industry is part of the solution, and not the other way around. Batteries and battery materials from the Nordic countries must be sustainably and responsibly produced, utilising also forest industry side streams and recycled materials. A good example is lignin applications,” says Chief Sustainability Officer Mia Andelin at Sweco Finland.
More information
Hannu Johto, Battery Industry Lead, Sweco Finland, +358 50 379 5313, hannu.johto@sweco.fi
Tim Karike, Head of Press, Sweco Finland, +358 44 507 5562, tim.karike@sweco.fi