Freyr Battery and Nidec Corp. form joint venture

Clean battery cell developer Freyr Battery, Luxembourg, and high-efficiency motor and storage system producer Nidec Corp., Kyoto, Japan, have established a downstream joint venture called Nidec Energy AS.

The companies say Nidec Energy aims to develop and supply highly competitive, integrated battery energy storage solutions (BESS) and products with low environmental impact. They say they expect mass production to begin in 2025, with the ambition to manufacture more than 8 gigawatt hours 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,” Freyr co-founder and CEO Tom Einar Jensen says. “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.”

The companies say they expect to integrate Nidec Energy’s module production into Freyr’s Giga Arctic facility in Mo i Rana, Norway, with volumes of integrated ESS solutions aligning with the company’s targeted ramp-up of cell production in 2024. In addition, the companies say they expect the joint venture to invest more than $127 million by 2030 and eventually employ more than 300 people, the majority of whom will be based at the Norway location.

“We are thrilled by the process 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,” says 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 SemiSolid lithium-ion battery cell technology.”

As one of the prerequisites to establishing the joint venture, the companies say a package of 24M Technologies 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.

Results of the sample cell testing included:

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• the sample cells exhibiting top quartile gravimetric energy density performance for LFP graphite batteries;
• a characterization analysis that 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; and
• the cells exhibiting best-in-class performance for thermal stability, indicating robust safety characteristics.

Freyr first announced a partnership with Nidec back in August. The companies say this joint venture catalyzes a firm sales contract under which Freyr will supply Nidec with 38 gigawatt hours of next-generation, clean battery cells from 2025-2030.