A factory that will produce lithium batteries can provide work to several thousand people in Rana municipality if everything goes according to plan.
The factory, which will be as big as Tesla’s factory in California in the US, will cost up to NOK 33 billion fully developed, writes Dagens Næringsliv. The plan is to produce lithium batteries for the car industry mainly from 2023.
If the plans are completed, it will be one of the largest industrial projects on -shore in Norway ever.
Behind the plans, which will be presented at the conference High North Dialogue in Bodø Wednesday, is the former executive vice president of Norsk Hydro, Torstein Dale Sjøtveit.
It is very realistic even though there are still many obstacles in the sea, he says about the pending billions.
Sjøtveit is the chairman of the company Freyr, who is planning the giant project. Together with the entrepreneur Tore Ivar Slettemoen, he is the majority owner of the company.
The plan is to raise between NOK 15 and 20 billion for the project during the course of next year. The company must also get an agreement with the licensee for the technology that will be used to produce the batteries, which they hope will be wrapped up this year.
To get the energy they need for the production, the company will focus on wind power by building out an existing energy park nearby. But both Rana and Nesna municipality have so far said no to the plans for a wind farm.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
