Northvolt says Quebec battery plant will proceed despite bankruptcy filing

Northvolt AB has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States, but said the move will not jeopardize the manufacturer's planned electric vehicle battery plant in Quebec — though hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars invested in the parent company could be lost.

Northvolt AB has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States, but said the move will not jeopardize the manufacturer's planned electric vehicle battery plant in Quebec — though hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars invested in the parent company could be lost.

Amid a sputtering global market for EVs, the Sweden-based outfit and several subsidiaries filed for a court-supervised reorganization of its debt and assets under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.

However, Northvolt said its Canadian subsidiary is financed separately and "will continue to operate as usual outside of the Chapter 11 process."

The Northvolt plant, dubbed Northvolt Six and slated for construction about 25 kilometres east of Montreal, amounts to a $7-billion undertaking that aims to churn out battery cells and cathode active material for electric vehicles.

"I see no reason today to think that we won't do it as planned," said Paolo Cerruti, Northvolt co-founder and CEO of Northvolt North America, which oversees the project, in an interview.

"Activity on the site is daily and very intense, and there are trucks every day and around 150 people working."

Nonetheless, concerns around Northvolt's financial solvency have raised questions about a project to which Quebec and Ottawa have pledged $2.4 billion in funding.