Northvolt invests in Swedish recycling location

Switzerland-based global engineering and automation firm ABB Group has been commissioned to deliver “electrification solutions” to Revolt Ett, an under-construction battery recycling facility in Skellefteå, Sweden, to be operated by Stockholm-based battery producer Northvolt AB.

According to ABB, the Revolt facility is being designed to process 125,000 tons of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery production scrap each year, which it calls “the highest volume in the world.” It is scheduled to start operations later this year.

Northvolt is long-term partner of ABB, which says the work being performed by the firm “aims for [the] carbon footprint of its batteries to be around 90 percent lower than current industry levels” by 2030.

Starting in 2017, ABB has delivered electrification and automation equipment to the adjacent Northvolt Ett gigafactory in Sweden. The new contract will increase its electrification and processing presence, including via ABB's plant optimization methodology.

ABB will deliver switchgears and variable speed drives to the facility, designed to match the speed of  processes taking place in the factory, ramp power up and down as required, save energy, improve performance and lower maintenance requirements.

The Revolt Ett recycling site will service Northvolt’s gigafactory on the same site, which brought one production block online in 2022 and will establish others to reach an annual production capacity of 60 gigawatt hours.

As a battery product, Northvolt makes lithium-ion batteries for the automotive, industrial and large-scale energy storage sectors.

“Batteries are a critical technology within the energy transition,” says Emma Nehrenheim, chief environmental officer of Northvolt. “But with massive growth in battery demand it is critical that we secure solutions to recycle batteries and ensure reliable, sustainable supply of critical minerals. This new facility Revolt Ett will help us achieve both of these goals as we work toward our mission of building the world’s greenest battery.”

The Revolt Ett battery material recovery facility deploys hydrometallurgical processes to supply up to 50 percent of the Northvolt gigafactory’s raw material needs for lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese by 2030. By that year, Northvolt aims to have the capacity to manufacture 150 gigawatt hours annually at its operations in Sweden and Germany, according to ABB.

“This is ABB’s first order within the strategically important battery recycling segment,” says Staffan Södergård, a business unit manager with ABB. “In conjunction with a trusted partner in Northvolt, this project offers us the opportunity to help our customers avoid carbon emissions, reuse material and protect critical supply chains. We look forward to its progress.”

ABB is a provider of electrification and automation technology and equipment, with systems that “connect engineering know-how and software to optimize how things are manufactured, moved, powered and operated.” The 130-year-old firm employs about 105,000 people globally.