A large press contingent was present to listen to a long line of speakers at the press conference held at Skellefteå City Hall on Friday, August 8.
My first thought during the press conference was – why are there so many of them? Skellefteå municipality and partners had invited the public to what seemed like a celebratory event, to deliver the gospel of Northvolt’s new owner, Lyten, to Sweden and the people of Skellefteå. I admit vent there with a critical mindset. I was prepared to encounter propaganda and excessive optimism. The large number of speakers only reinforced that feeling.
But the press conference made me change my mindset. Not that I now think it will be easy for Lyten to get the battery factory up and running – but I do understand why they actually have a chance to succeed.
Before I write more about that, I want to take you back to the autumn of 2017, when Northvolt’s leadership, led by Peter Carlsson, stepped into the municipal council in Skellefteå. They were visionaries, pioneers, and economists. At first, I didn’t take them seriously. But when they showed how enormous the global demand for batteries was, I began to sense they were onto something.
Northvolt’s problem was that they had the right idea – but no functioning production. Right up until the bankruptcy, it was true that if they could just produce batteries, they would be able to sell them. But progress was too slow, the errors too frequent, and the material waste too high.
I’ve written before that I may have been a bit naïve when I chose to believe in Northvolt back then. Then as now, the answer is yes – but not because I listened to a visionary. The naivety lay in not understanding how crucial the vision was, and how complicated it would be to realise.
Matthias Arleth, former COO Northvolt.
So when I went to the Lyten and municipality press conference, I was curious about how serious the new owner is about tackling the factory’s core issue – the actual production.
In a situation like this, it would be easy for the newcomers to present a message of: “Now we’re going to fix everything that’s wrong.” But what we heard was something else. Lyten’s CEO Dan Cook emphasised that what’s needed now is a gradual restart of the factory – with Northvolt’s former staff as a key factor for success.
This message was reinforced by the presence of Northvolt’s last COO, Mattias Arleth, who was invited to tell how the factory developed during the final winter and spring. He shared, among other things, that Northvolt, with a reduced workforce, reached production volumes of 30,000 battery cells per week – and that production flowed more smoothly than before.
Lytens CEO Dan Cook.
Cook added to the picture by claiming that Northvolt had, by the end, solved most of the production problems that had previously put the company in such an impossible financial position that it ultimately went bankrupt.
The message was that Lyten wants to build on Northvolt’s strengths. If nothing else, it’s an unusually humble way to talk about change. Lyten contributes new technology and fresh capital. Cook didn’t want to disclose any figures but showed great calm regarding financing.
– The work ahead of us is about focus, execution, and determination. With the help of Northvolt’s skilled staff, our technology, and the financiers backing us, we have everything we need to take one step at a time, said Dan Cook.
Andreas Westerberg is Norran’s political editor.
As I left the press conference, I thought: this is going to be difficult. But if anyone is going to succeed, it’s a company with the attitude of Lyten. Was I naïve again? No – just a little hopeful.