Battery factories in Europe: operational, planned and cancelled projects

The European Union (EU) is seeking to lessen its reliance on China for battery manufacturing by encouraging producers to establish operations within its borders. However, several carmakers have scaled back their plans as demand for electric vehicles has declined.

Stellantis and CATL are the latest companies to reveal battery-production investments, committing €4.1 billion to build a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant in Zaragoza, Spain. They are not alone in pursuing such projects.

This article covers the dedicated battery-manufacturing facilities already operating in Europe, those planned for the future, and those that have been cancelled.

Operational factories

These are the battery factories already operating in Europe:

Of the countries involved, Spain stands out as a potentially important player in this industrial race. It is moving from having no battery factories to becoming one of Europe’s leading producers.

There are currently 13 battery-production factories in Europe, although some remain in the testing and production ramp-up stages. Morrow Batteries’ plant in Arendal, Norway, is one such example.

Northvolt’s factory in Skellefteå, Sweden, halted operations in September 2024 to expand its facilities, following production difficulties linked to weak demand and Chinese competition. The site is currently producing battery cells only.

Planned factories

Learn about the battery factories planned for Europe:

Cancelled factories

Alongside these projects, several other battery factories have had their construction postponed or cancelled altogether. One of them was another Northvolt and Galp facility planned for Setúbal, which was intended to be Europe’s largest and most sustainable lithium-conversion factory.

However, the Swedish battery manufacturer withdrew from the project after filing for insolvency, and the refinery, left without a partner, was forced to follow the same route. Find out in detail what happened:

In addition to this project, Northvolt also cancelled a planned battery-cell factory in Borlänge, Sweden. Volvo Cars is, however, attempting to take full control of NOVO Energy.e, the company formed through its joint venture with Northvolt to manufacture batteries, in order to move the project forward.

Two further battery factories in Europe have also been cancelled: one in Finland, owned by Chinese company Svolt, and another in Mo i Rana, Norway, owned by Freyr. In Italy, Italvolt, backed by design company Pininfarina, has indefinitely postponed plans to construct a €3.5 billion battery factory.

In July, Porsche said it was looking for investors for a battery factory, although no further details about the project were provided.

Meanwhile, two factories in the United Kingdom, in Coventry and Sunderland, are awaiting approval to begin or continue construction of their facilities.

Source: Reuters