Northvolt bankruptcy! Taxpayers are liable for 600 million euros – questions about Habeck

The plans sound promising: Northvolt should produce battery cells for electric cars in the planned factory in Heide. Production was scheduled to start in 2026, with the creation of around 3,000 jobs.

In addition, the company is planning a recycling plant to recover important materials from discarded electric car batteries. Extensive government funding and guarantees were to be provided to support this ambitious project: around 700 million euros were earmarked as funding from the federal and state governments.

Of this, the federal government would have provided 564 million euros, while the state of Schleswig-Holstein should cover up to 137 million euros. But that’s not all: additional protection through guarantees amounting to 202 million euros was planned.

Northvolt in crisis – even when the money flowed from Germany?

Now the project may be on the brink of collapse. Because the Swedish battery manufacturer has a creditor protection procedure under US law – more commonly known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The application was filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. According to the application, the aim is to enable the company to be restructured and continued. Northvolt can initially continue to operate its business under the supervision of a bankruptcy judge. However, the lenders’ claims have initially been put on hold and with them millions of dollars from the federal and state governments.

But long before this step, Northvolt was apparently in considerable financial difficulties. This is also evident from the documents presented to the court when the application was submitted. Like an anonymous Insiders from the “Bild” newspaper reportedThe company believes the company’s loss will amount to 1.1 billion euros in 2023 – “significantly higher than originally planned”.

Possible reasons for the company’s financial difficulties include the rejection of sales of electric cars and quality defects in the batteries produced. According to the newspaper’s information, almost one in three batteries had errors. These problems result in significant financial losses and place a heavy burden on the company.

The accusation that is now in the air: Apparently missed Robert Habeck and his ministry the crisis at Northvolt. Northvolt was obliged to report on its business development every three months.

The financial difficulties should have been noticed. The questions that now arise: Did Northvolt breach its duty? Or were problems deliberately concealed in order to secure state funds?

The fact is: In autumn 2023, the Ministry of Economic Affairs ordered the state bank KfW to transfer a good 600 million euros to the ailing company.

Why didn’t the Habeck Ministry notice any of the problems?

The Ministry of Economic Affairs rejects the proposals. According to a press spokesman, there was no indication between June and October 2023 that Northvolt was in trouble.

It was only in May 2024 that the company reported that the ramp-up of electromobility was slowing down. There were no indications of financial problems until August 2024 – just three months before bankruptcy.

Former Northvolt boss Peter Karlsson also rejects all allegations. A spokesman for the company told the “Bild” newspaper that KfW and the ministry had been informed about the progress as agreed. Nevertheless, it remains unclear why Northvolt’s major difficulties were not noticed.