The plan was 1,500 jobs and large-scale battery production in Mo i Rana as early as 2023. Last week it became known that the battery company Freyr is putting its battery investment in northern Norway on hold. The company throttles the investments, and instead looks towards Georgia in the USA. Now the giga factory in the industrial town of Mo i Rana has been put on ice. According to CEO Birger Steen in Freyr, the earliest anything will happen in Mo i Rana is after 2024. It is, according to Freyr, the Americans’ gigantic investment package Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which is the main reason why Freyr is looking towards Georgia, and not Rana. – Unless the Norwegian authorities put large amounts of support on the table, there is no funding available to complete this type of factory today. We will not go ahead with it this year, and not in 2024 either, says Steen to news. – As the Americans have introduced a package of measures that has no parallel in modern industrial history, it is actually the case that it is not possible to finance this type of project in our part of the world Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news What will happen to built to several billions? Will it be an empty warehouse? Steen says he should be careful about predicting the future, but: – It would be very surprising for us if all the good partners and the industrial community in Mo i Rana did not have better ideas than that. Asking for 10 billion In June came the Norwegian government’s response to the US’s green aid scheme. Then the politicians said, among other things, that they would allocate NOK 1 billion to the best battery projects over the next five years. Already in March, Freyr sent a letter to the Ministry of Trade and Fisheries asking for NOK 10 billion in public support. Steen says that the billions the battery company asked for should consist of loans, financing arrangements and support. But the billions Steen wants he can look far for. Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) says he would be happy to come to Mo i Rana to cut the cord on a future opening of the first giga factory. – But when that will happen depends on private investors, not on state capital. Then we would be on wild roads. – The green shift is demanding, and not all projects will be successful, says Minister for Business Jan Christian Vestre. Photo: Lars Os Vestre adds: – It is not the state’s task to ensure that everyone who has an idea gets financial help to implement it at the taxpayers’ expense. Norwegian competitiveness is not about giving the most subsidies possible. There must be business profitability at the bottom. Vestre: – Has contributed NOK 190 million. In total, Freyr has invested NOK 4 billion in Mo i Rana since the plans were launched in 2019, while the state, according to Vestre, has contributed NOK 190 million. – That corresponds to 6 per cent and means that 94 per cent is private capital. The opening of Freyr’s test factory in March this year was broadcast via YouTube. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre took part here. – A big day for Norway, stated Støre. Photo: Freyr battery – What’s the point if Freyr packs his things and leaves the country instead of investing in Norway? – We have to recognize that not all projects can be realised. According to Birger Steen, Freyr has received NOK 183 million. According to the Freyr boss, this money has been used to bring in fresh capital of around 10.5 billion, as well as build a team at world-class board and management level. – This can help build a leading technology company, he says. Freyr CEO Birger Steen spoke to the press and business community in Rana last week. Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news Do we need huge packages? Despite the fact that Freyr has received huge sums from private investors, it is not enough. When Norway says no, they go to the United States. – Are there really such amounts that you are dependent on to get this started in Norway on a large scale? – In March, after analyzing what has come up in connection with the IRA, we sent a letter to the Ministry of Business, Steen replies. The Freyr boss points out that they did not just argue that money had to be put in place. – We asked for a mixture of loans and different forms of financing schemes and support. This was approximately NOK 10 billion, that is correct. The main challenge, according to Steen, is that the IRA is so powerful that Europe and Norway must match it for it to be profitable to produce in Norway. – We asked that possibilities be investigated to rebalance the effect of the IRA in Europe and Norway within the existing framework here. So far we have not managed to do that, says Steen. He emphasizes that they hope to come back and build on the giga project in Rana if the framework conditions are later suitable for this. – Our ambition so far is to get it started.
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Have spent 2.8 billion on the factory – no one knows if there will be production – news Nordland
