Heide (dpa) – A “gigafactory” for e-car batteries is to be built in northern Germany in the coming years. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasised that investments such as the battery factory being built by the Swedish company Northvolt were of enormous strategic importance to Germany and Europe. “Germany has always been and will remain a strong industrialised nation,” said Scholz at a ceremony to inaugurate the construction of the factory near Heide in Schleswig-Holstein.
“The production of excellent cars will remain the backbone of our industry, above and beyond the combustion engine,” emphasised the Federal Chancellor, adding that this was why battery cells were needed that were made in Germany. For this reason, said Scholz, the construction of the gigafactory near Heide was good news for the country as a whole. Northvolt itself would be creating 3,000 jobs itself, said the Federal Chancellor, while another 10,000 employment opportunities were expected to be generated in the local area. Federal Economics Minister Habeck spoke of “one of the biggest industrial projects for the future of Germany”.
The Federal Government and the state of Schleswig-Holstein are providing subsidies of some 700 million euros for the construction of the factory, and an additional 202 million euros may be guaranteed, though this is yet to be approved. Production is scheduled to start in 2026.
