The EU should change its funding rules for green projects to give troubled battery maker Northvolt access to support that could help it attract a potential new owner, Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said, according to Reuters.
The company, which many hoped would establish itself as a European alternative to Chinese electric car battery makers, filed for bankruptcy in Sweden last week after failing to raise new capital to continue operations.
Ebba Busch says she wants to change the rules so that battery makers like Northvolt will be eligible for EU support in the future.
- It is time to move from words to action and actually decide on the money this spring. A potential new owner also wants to know what the conditions and opportunities for a viable competitive situation will be for Northvolt in the European market, she says.
According to her, this kind of support could be crucial to ensuring that Northvolt "survives this tough period of insolvency".
EU support earmarked for innovation
The EU Commission said last month that it would allocate six billion euros (approximately DKK 45 billion) in support for green projects. This potentially also applies to projects within the battery industry. However, the money is currently earmarked for highly innovative projects rather than existing technologies.
Northvolt's crisis first became clear last summer, when it emerged that it was having problems meeting contracts and making a profit from operations. In September, the company announced 1,600 layoffs, and in November, Northvolt filed for bankruptcy protection.
The debt in the parent company is twice as large as the assets, and equity was minus 34.3 billion Swedish kronor at the turn of the year.
/ritzau/
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