Sweden's green hope Battery manufacturer's future in balance after huge losses

Just three years ago, Sweden's then prime minister, Stefan Löfven, visited Northvolt's base near the Arctic Circle in Skellefteå to see Europe's first homegrown battery gigafactory and declared the city "the future" in the fight against global heating. Its work had huge significance for Sweden and the world, the Social Democrat said.

- Miranda Bryant

The battery manufacturer was not only supposed to be a flagship project for Sweden's "green industrial revolution", but was also hailed as Europe's big hope against dependence on oil and imported batteries from China.

Since its launch in 2016, aimed at building "the world's greenest battery", Northvolt's rapid rise has attracted billions in investment and orders from the world's biggest car companies, including Volkswagen, BMW and Volvo.

But today, as Europe's electric car market struggles, much of this enthusiasm is starting to look misguided. In June, BMW cancelled a €2bn (£1.7bn) contract with Northvolt. And last week, amid a growing cashflow crisis, the battery manufacturer announced plans for 1,600 redundancies and suspended expansion of its Northvolt Ett factory in Skellefteå.

Rumours swirl of imminent bankruptcy and even Chinese sabotage - both dismissed by Northvolt as "speculation".

Meanwhile, police are investigating the death of a 25-year-old man at its factory in which Northvolt is suspected of workplace violations.

The company has said it is in contact with prosecutors and police but is not commenting on an "ongoing investigation".

The mood among employees is said to be one of deep concern as they await redundancy details, while workers hired from outside Sweden face the prospect of having to leave the country. Oliver Szabo, the chief security officer for the union IF Metall, said at Northvolt Labs in Västerås, in central Sweden, where 400 jobs are to be cut: "Of course people are worried. We see that people don't know if they will be affected or not."

The alleged workplace death in Skellefteå was, he said, "unacceptable".