ELKEM - Northern Recharge

Elkem selects site for potential large-scale battery materials plant in Norway - Elkem today announces that it has selected Herøya Industrial Park as the site for a potential large-scale plant for battery graphite production in Norway. The project, named Northern Recharge, aims to supply the fast-growing battery industry through a competitive production process and make batteries greener with lower CO2 emissions.

Source: Elkem

Based on conclusions from the pilot, Elkem will evaluate the basis for competitive industrial production with its Northern Recharge project. The project has now selected Herøya Industrial Park, one of the biggest industrial parks in Norway, as the site for a potential large-scale plant.

Source: Elkem

“The production of battery materials represents one of Elkem’s biggest growth opportunities. The demand for batteries is surging, as a result of the rapid growth of electrification in transport and increasing need for energy storage in a sustainable future. This requires new production capacity for battery materials, and we see significant opportunities for a specialised product with a green footprint,” says CEO of Elkem, Michael Koenig.

Graphite is the leading anode material in lithium-ion battery cells and demand is expected to increase more than ten times from today’s level to 2030. Elkem’s Northern Recharge project aims to take a competitive position in this market, contribute to a strong European battery industry and build new Norwegian export industry based on renewable hydropower.“It is a pleasure to announce that we have selected Herøya Industrial Park as the site for our Northern Recharge project. This enables us to build a highly cost-effective plant with good access to renewable energy, potentially lowering CO2 emissions by 90 percent compared to alternatives based on fossil energy. We also secure close proximity to our pilot plant and internationally leading research environments within material technology,” says vice president for Elkem Battery Materials, Stian Madshus.

Source: Elkem