Though it was previously believed that Northvolt bankruptcy proceedings wouldn’t have any impact on its planned Quebec plant, the reality is that the partnership between the province and the Swedish vehicle battery company will cease to exist as the government has tired of waiting for action on the project. Once billed as the largest private investment in the province, the provincial government made significant investments in the $7 billion Northvolt Batteries North America project to ensure that that plant was built and the 3,000 jobs promised came to fruition.
Quebec offered a $240 million guaranteed loan and a $270 million investment in Northvolt Batteries North America’s parent company, the latter of which will be lost while the former will be recovered. Quebec public retirement fund manager, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, also invested $200 million, which was lost in the bankruptcy.
In a statement, Northvolt North America indicated that the decision is regrettable and reaffirmed that its North American operations are not in bankruptcy and assured that it still has “substantial resources to relaunch the project.”
The province says Northvolt Batteries North America owes more than $260 million to repay the loan that allowed the company to purchase the land where the facility was to be built and has indicated that it wants to withdraw nearly $200 million from frozen accounts belonging to Northvolt to pay down the debt, while urging the court to authorize a process for the sale or repossession of the land.
