Export Finance Norway, Eksfin contributes heavily with loan guarantees to Freyr Battery and to the Giga Factory which is under construction in Mo i Rana. The minister of industry is aggressive, but is currently keeping his cards close to his chest about how much more the state will contribute to succeed with the government's new battery strategy.
- I think this is a good example of active business policy, said Minister of Business Jan Christian Vestre to Dagens Næringsliv.
The minister visited Freyr's pilot factory in Mo i Rana on the occasion of the presentation of the government's strategy to strengthen Norway's position as a battery producer. The backdrop for the government's strategy is the recognition that the international demand for batteries has nearly tripled in the last five years.
The government's strategy consists of ten points:
Leadership in sustainability throughout the battery value chain
Promote Norway as an attractive host country for green investments
Enter into industrial partnerships with central countries
Providing capital, loans and guarantees that trigger private capital
Promote access to expertise
Facilitating more renewable energy access
Contribute to land and other central infrastructure
Ensure predictable, efficient and coordinated public processes
Support for growing pilot municipalities
Leadership on tomorrow's battery solutions and utilization of digital technology opportunities
The government's objective is that, with an active business policy, Norway can take significant market shares in the entire international battery value chain, from sustainable extraction of minerals to battery cell production, and to the production of batteries and later recycling.
The loan guarantees of €400 millions are provided via Eksfin, Export Finance Norway on conventional terms.
At the same time, Freyr Battery could announce that, on the basis of the agreements with Eksfin, the company has approved the expansion of the planned Giga Arctic project to an annual capacity of 29 GWh.
- Today marks another important milestone for FREYR on our way to giga-scale production of clean battery solutions. With our expanded plant capacity, accelerating commercial momentum and strong support from Eksfin, other ECAs and financial institutions, Giga Arctic represents one of Norway's largest industrial investments on land in recent decades, says Torstein Dale Sjøtveit, founder and executive chairman of FREYR in a press release.