The factory was being developed on the city’s South Shore by Swedish battery maker Northvolt with a view to beginning production in 2026. However, the company said in a statement on Saturday that a strategic review might lead to a revised timetable.
It added that nothing had been finalised and that the results of the reconsideration were expected in the early autumn. “In the meantime, engineering and design of the technology complex are ongoing, and site preparation work continues,” the company said.
In July, it was reported that Northvolt was reconsidering its expansion plans after encountering production problems at its Ett factory in the Swedish city of Skelleftea, near the Arctic Circle.
Peter Carlsson, Northvolt’s chief executive, told the Financial Times that the company was having difficulty in emulating the performance of Chinese and South Korean battery makers.
Another factor is slower-than-expected growth in global demand for EVs. Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec’s economy minister, said on X that experts expected “a period of stagnation lasting 12 to 18 months”. He added that this could affect to Northvolt’s plans.
Quebec’s provincial government pledged US$2.1bn in financial support to secure the deal with the Swedish company last year. Meanwhile, the federal government committed up to US$1bn towards construction costs and another US$2.2bn in other incentives.
Northvolt has three plants in the works, one in Gothenburg, one in Montreal and the other in Hamburg.
In July, GCR reported that the production schedule of the €4.5bn Drei factory in Germany, which began construction in March, might be reconsidered (see further reading).
Since its founding in 2016, Northvolt has emerged as a European champion in the new automotive and battery sectors. It plans to have 150GWh of lithium-ion installed capacity by 2030.
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