FREYR Receives Government Low-Emission Grant from ENOVA to Support Development of Initial Clean Battery Cell Production Facility
FREYR AS has received a NOK 142 million-grant (USD 16.4 million) from the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment through ENOVA SF as part financing for the development and construction of a pilot plant in Mo i Rana, Norway, which will be FREYR’s initial clean battery cell production facility.
ENOVA is an enterprise owned by the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The enterprise is contributing to reduced non-quota greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and technology development and innovation that contributes to emission reductions up to 2050.
“It is exciting to see Norwegian businesses lead the way in the global battery race and develop tomorrow’s industry with tomorrow’s technology. It is important to ENOVA that Norwegian battery production is as climate friendly as possible, and we want to contribute to reducing the risks related to more environmentally friendly technology,” says Nils Kristian Nakstad, CEO of ENOVA.
With support from the grant, FREYR’s Board has sanctioned the final contracting processes for the plant. Construction of the plant is expected to start in the second quarter of 2021 and is an important step in realizing FREYR’s initial target of scaling to 43 GWh of cost efficient and clean battery cell production capacity by 2025. FREYR plans to qualify this next generation battery cell technology as part of its ambition to accelerate the decarbonisation of all transportation and energy systems, and utilize Norway’s inherent advantages, including access to renewable energy, low electricity prices, Norway’s highly skilled workforce and the closeness to rapidly growing markets in Europe and the US.
“The ENOVA grant supports our decision to develop FREYR’s and Norway’s first lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility. The grant provides enabling financial support for our pilot plant and serves as a strong recognition of FREYR’s ambition to produce battery cells with high energy density at low cost with the world’s lowest carbon footprint” says Tom Einar Jensen, the CEO of FREYR.
On 29 January 2021, FREYR announced that it will become a publicly listed company through a business combination with Alussa Energy Acquisition Corp., raising approximately USD 850 million in equity proceeds to accelerate the development of clean battery cell manufacturing capacity in Norway. Subject to closing conditions being met, the combined company will be named “FREYR Battery” (“Pubco”) and its common stock is expected to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FREY upon closing, expected in the second quarter of 2021. On 16 February 2021, the extraordinary general meeting of FREYR approved the business combination.
