Skellefteå to get Europe’s biggest car battery factory: in pictures (AFP)

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  • Startup Northvolt has picked a town in northern Sweden to build Europe’s biggest factory for electric car batteries, rivalling Tesla’s American ‘Gigafactory’.

    Skellefteå to get Europe's biggest car battery factory: in pictures
    Sweden’s Enterprise and Innovation Minister Mikael Damberg. Photo: Anders Wiklund/T

    The company said it had selected Skellefteå, a coastal town in the country’s industrial north-east, for the site which will employ up to 2,500 people.

    Sweden’s main nickel, cobalt, lithium and graphite deposits are nearby.

    An associated research centre employing 300 to 400 people will be located in Västerås, some 150 kilometres west of Stockholm and the original headquarters of Swedish-Swiss ABB, which has partnered up with Northvolt for the project.

    READ ALSO: ‘The tech sector should lead the move away from cities’


    Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT

    “Europe is rapidly moving towards electrification,” said Peter Carlsson, Northvolt’s founder and CEO.

    “Sweden has a unique position to establish large-scale battery production to support this transition with its clean and affordable energy, proximity to raw materials, and a strong industrial tradition deep in its DNA,” he said.


    Artist’s impression of what the factory will look like. Photo: Northvolt

    Sweden’s Enterprise and Innovation Minister Mikael Damberg said it was “a great day, not just for the two chosen cities but also for Sweden and for Europe”.

    Construction of the factory is to start in the second half of 2018, and it is expected to raise production progressively between 2020 and 2023. Once fully operational, the site is to produce lithium-ion batteries totalling 32 Gigawatt hours (GWh) per year.

    The project requires an investment of four billion euros ($4.7 billion) over six years for which financing is already covered.


    Artist’s impression of the planned factory. Photo: Northvolt

    The factory comes in response to Tesla founder Elon Musk’s ‘Gigafactory’ in the US state of Nevada where production debuted in January and which Tesla hopes to eventually ramp up to 150 GWhs.

    In addition, Tesla is mulling plans for another such factory, this time in Europe, with several countries happy to have it, including Sweden and France.

    Northvolt’s factory will be aimed not only at electric cars and other vehicles, but also at renewable energy producers looking for electricity storage, as well as industrial companies.

  • When asked about what proof he could offer, Trump said: “Let her make her statement again then you will find out.”

    Johnson was among four US soldiers killed October 4 in Niger, where Islamic State fighters have established a presence.

    The military has released few details about what happened, and on Tuesday Senator John McCain, who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Trump administration was not being forthcoming with information.

    The Miami native’s body was returned home Tuesday afternoon. His wife Myeshia, who is expecting the couple’s third child, sobbed loudly while cradling his coffin after it was taken off a military plane.

    After Trump’s call, Myeshia “was crying, she broke down. And she said ‘he didn’t even know his name,'” Wilson said, referring to Trump and the dead soldier.

    Finding the right tone

    Trump had faced criticism for not contacting the families of the soldiers killed in Niger right away.

    On Monday, he said he had written them letters and would call soon, while accusing his predecessor Barack Obama of neglecting to call as many grieving families as himself.

    He also suggested on a call to Fox News radio Tuesday that Obama had not made a condolence call to retired Marine general John Kelly, Trump’s White House chief of staff, after his son was killed in action in Afghanistan.

    The statements sparked outrage from former Obama aides, who said Trump’s claims were baseless.

    Trump has repeatedly struggled to strike the right tone during times of national disaster, moments when America looks to its leader for comforting remarks.

    He recently told hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico that his willingness to help the US territory was not unlimited, and after a Las Vegas mass shooting that left 58 dead and more than 500 wounded, Trump offered his “warmest condolences.”

    Separately, the Post reported Wednesday that Trump had promised $25,000 to the father of a soldier killed in Afghanistan in June, and to help him establish an online fundraiser — neither of which happened.

    The check was also sent Wednesday, the same day as the Post report, according to CNN, which quoted a White House official.

    The White House sent out a terse statement on the matter.

    “The check has been sent. It’s disgusting that the media is taking something that should be recognized as a generous and sincere gesture, made privately by the president, and using it to advance the media’s biased agenda,” spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.

    It took this long to get the check out because several government agencies may be involved when the president interacts with the public, especially in cases involving his personal funds, CNN quoted a White House official as saying.

     

    Source:Thelocal.se