Freyr, a Norwegian startup, announced a joint venture agreement with Koch Strategic Platforms (KSP) with an intention to establish next-generation battery cell production in the U.S.
The 50/50% joint venture is expected to build a 50 GWh gigafactory, at a location that will be selected next year.
The company intends to use battery tech from 24M Technologies, in which both partners have invested $70 million ($50 million KSP and $20 million Freyr).
“The JV, which has a 50%/50% ownership structure, has been established to develop an initial 50 GWh of Gigafactory-scale battery cell manufacturing capacity in the U.S. based on 24M Technologies (“24M”) SemiSolidTM platform technology.”
“In conjunction with the agreement, KSP and FREYR have invested $70 million in convertible promissory notes with 24M, under which KSP and FREYR will initially invest $50 million and $20 million, respectively. Upon closing of the convertible note financing, the JV entered into a new licensing agreement with 24M that will enable the JV to deploy 24M’s SemiSolidTM platform technology with conditional limited exclusivity in the U.S.”
It’s too early to say anything more about who would be the customer for the batteries. Let’s remember that Freyr works also on a separate project of a 43 GWh battery gigafactory in Norway.
The company has completed a business combination transaction with Alussa Energy Acquisition Corp. on July 9, 2021, which at the time was expected to translate into approximately $704 million in gross proceeds for Freyr. That’s enough to start serious preparation, but not yet enough to build plants (one might cost a few billion).
If the technology is competitive and viable, we guess that the automotive industry might be interested in buying some of the batteries from another supplier, but with the huge rush over the past few years, the market is now pretty crowded.