FREYR Battery and Nidec Corporation Complete Formation of Joint Venture
December 06 2022 - 2:31AM
Business Wire
FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY) (“FREYR”), a developer of clean,
next-generation battery cell production capacity, and Nidec
Corporation (TSE: 6594) (“Nidec”), a globally leading producer of
high-efficiency electric motors and a leader in the energy storage
systems (“ESS”) space, have announced that they have established a
downstream joint venture, now called Nidec Energy AS (“Nidec
Energy”).
The newly established Nidec Energy aims to develop and supply
highly competitive, integrated battery energy storage solutions
(“BESS”) and products with low environmental impact. Mass
production is expected to commence in 2025, with the ambition to
manufacture more than 8 GWh per year of battery modules and packs
from 2027, and 12 GWh per year by 2030.
“The official incorporation of the joint venture with Nidec is a
significant milestone in our journey to bring speed, scale, and
sustainability to battery storage solutions globally,” remarked Tom
Einar Jensen, FREYR’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “This
partnership will enable us to accelerate the development of our
highly competitive, low carbon modules and battery pack solutions
for industrial and utility grade applications,” Jensen added.
Nidec Energy’s module production is expected to be integrated
into FREYR’s Giga Arctic development, with volumes of integrated
ESS solutions aligning with the company’s targeted ramp up of cell
production in 2024. In addition, the joint venture is expected to
invest more than $127 million by 2030, and eventually employ more
than 300 people, the majority of whom will be based in Mo i Rana,
Norway.
“We are thrilled by the progress we have made with FREYR. This
joint venture will support the development of our fast-growing ESS
business and aligns with our firm commitment to develop
technologies that contribute to reducing global carbon emissions,”
said Laurent Demortier, President of Nidec’s Energy &
Infrastructure Division. “For us, FREYR is a natural partner with
clean energy and sustainability ambitions. They also bring
expertise and resources related to battery cell design and
manufacturing, which includes the market-leading 24M SemiSolidTM
lithium-ion battery cell technology.”
As one of the prerequisites to establishing the joint venture, a
package of 24M Technologies (“24M”) sample cells was sent to a
leading independent third-party laboratory for testing on behalf of
Nidec. The purpose of the testing was to measure the capacity,
charge, and discharge profiles of the cells, in addition to
technical performance, to confirm that the operation of the cells
was consistent with the specifications and data provided by
FREYR.
Key results from sample cell testing:
- The sample cells exhibited top quartile gravimetric energy
density performance for LFP graphite batteries.
- Characterization analysis demonstrated very similar behavior
across the cells, and behavior remained stable across several
cycles with relatively low variability across the sample pool,
which provided a positive indication of cell quality.
- The cells exhibited best-in-class performance for thermal
stability, indicating robust safety characteristics.
FREYR first announced a broad partnership with Nidec in August
2022. The formation of this joint venture catalyzes a firm sales
contract under which FREYR will supply Nidec with 38 GWh of
next-generation, clean battery cells from 2025 - 2030.
About FREYR Battery
FREYR Battery aims to provide industrial scale clean battery
solutions to reduce global emissions. Listed on the New York Stock
Exchange, FREYR’s mission is to produce green battery cells to
accelerate the decarbonization of energy and transportation systems
globally. FREYR has commenced building the first of its planned
factories in Mo i Rana, Norway and announced potential development
of industrial scale battery cell production in Vaasa, Finland and
the United States. FREYR intends to install 50 GWh of battery cell
capacity by 2025 and 100 GWh annual capacity by 2028 and 200 GWh of
annual capacity by 2030. To learn more about FREYR, please visit
www.freyrbattery.com
About Nidec Corporation
Nidec Corporation is the world’s largest small precision motor
manufacturer in the automotive, industrial, and appliance sectors.
Listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nidec’s annual sales were 1.9
trillion Japanese yen in March 2022, and the company is aiming for
4 trillion Japanese yen by March 2026. Under its Corporate Slogan,
“All for Dreams”, Nidec is challenging to expand the promising ESS
market strategically to contribute to the realization of a
carbon-neutral society. To learn more about Nidec, please visit
www.nidec.com/en/
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
All statements, other than statements of present or historical
fact included in this press release, including, without limitation,
statements regarding Nidec Energy’s ability to develop and supply
highly competitive, integrated BESS and products with low
environmental impact and meet its mass production timeline and
manufacturing targets; the joint venture’s ability to bring speed,
scale, and sustainability to battery storage solutions globally;
the partnership’s ability to enable the acceleration of the
development of FREYR’s highly competitive, low carbon modules and
battery pack solutions for industrial and utility grade
applications; the ability to integrate Nidec Energy’s module
production into FREYR’s Giga Arctic development; the joint
venture’s expected investment of more than $110 million by 2030 and
the eventual employment of more than 300 people; the potential for
further collaboration between FREYR and Nidec in relation to
FREYR’s Giga America strengthening localized supply of
environmentally friendly BESS solutions in the U.S.; the joint
venture’s ability to support Nidec’s development of its
fast-growing ESS business; FREYR’s ability to bring expertise and
resources related to battery cell design and manufacturing, which
includes 24M SemiSolidTM lithium-ion battery cell technology are
forward-looking and involve significant risks and uncertainties
that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the
expected results.
Most of these factors are outside FREYR’s control and difficult
to predict. Information about factors that could materially affect
FREYR is set forth under the “Risk Factors” section in (i) FREYR’s
Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on September 1, 2022, as amended,
and (ii) FREYR’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on
March 9, 2022, and available on the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221206005490/en/
Investor contact: Jeffrey Spittel Vice President,
Investor Relations jeffrey.spittel@freyrbattery.com Tel: (+1)
281-222-0161
Media contact: Katrin Berntsen Vice President,
Communication and Public Affairs katrin.berntsen@freyrbattery.com
Tel: (+47) 920 54 570
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