As the world moves towards massive electrification, the demand for batteries increases rapidly day by day, says Terje Andersen, CEO at Elinor Batteries.
Valinor has established Elinor Batteries, and has teamed up with former Morrow director Terje Andersen to establish a new battery factory in Mid-Norway. Preparation and construction of the first phase of Elinor Batteries will commence as early as next year in the green industrial site Eiktyr in Orkland, Mid-Norway.
Elinor Batteries is a direct response to the Norwegian government’s strategy for developing the complete value chain for battery production in Norway, published this summer. Elinor Batteries sees potential for creating several thousand jobs in the region. The industrial site Eiktyr in Orkland, Mid-Norway has great access to clean renewable energy, which is cheaper than the rest of the country and not least the rest of Europe. It is located only 40 kilometers from Trondheim city and will thus have proximity to world-class technology hubs, as well as a large and competent labor force. There are no other places in the world more suitable for producing sustainable batteries than Central Norway, says Terje Andersen, CEO at Elinor Batteries.
The factory’s first phase will produce batteries for stationary storage of electric energy. As the world moves towards massive electrification, the demand for sustainably produced batteries increases rapidly day by day, says Andersen. Increased electrification of our society requires large batteries that reinforce the power grids where the capacity is too low, and to balance the demand and price fluctuations. Stationary batteries will be particularly suitable in power grids, homes, commercial buildings, industry and charging infrastructure, because the batteries have a longer lifespan and are cheaper to produce. The fact that the EU is to make itself less dependent on batteries produced in Asia also opens up an even bigger market in Europe, Andersen explains.
The first construction phase will begin as early as 2024, and production from the first module will start according to plan in mid-2026. The first module will require investments of around EUR 1 billion. Three modules are planned until 2030. At full-scale production, the capacity will be around 40 GWh.