Canada’s CDPQ Invests C$200M in Swedish EV Battery Developer

Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has invested C$200 million ($150 million) in Swedish electric vehicle battery developer Northvolt AB in the form of convertible debt. Northvolt specializes in manufacturing, recycling and research and the development of sustainable battery systems and cells.

“The battery value chain is of great interest for the CDPQ, because in addition to having a favorable impact on the energy transition, it will, in our opinion, experience strong expansion in the next decade,” Kim Thomassin, CDPQ’s executive vice president and head of its Quebec division, said in a release. “This is a promising sector for the economic development of Quebec and we want it to sustain.”

In late September, Northvolt announced it will build a lithium-ion battery gigafactory in a suburb of Montreal, which it said will have an annual cell production capacity of 60 GWh. Construction of the first 30 GWh phase of the project is expected to begin by the end of the year, and the first batteries are expected to be delivered in 2026.

CDPQ’s investment will go toward completing the construction of the gigafactory. According to Northvolt, the first phase of cathode manufacturing, cells and recycling will require a total investment of $5 billion. The announcement identified the project as the largest private investment in Quebec, and Northvolt stated that it chose the area because Quebec hydroelectricity guarantees cell production from 100% renewable energy.

“The potential for Northvolt Six is enormous, not only to rapidly develop our capacity to deliver sustainable batteries to the North American market, but also to accelerate the emergence of Quebec as a key player in the global energy transition,” Paolo Cerruti, co-founder of Northvolt, said in a statement. “With its unique access to 100% renewable energy and raw materials, we consider Quebec to be the ideal base of operations for Northvolt’s first gigafactory outside of Europe.”