State Parliament Addresses Lyten's Entry at the Northvolt Construction Site in Heide

The US company had already taken over the insolvent Swedish part of Northvolt at the end of February, including the main factory in Skellefteå and the development center in Västerås. Lyten has now signed a letter of intent with KfW, Northvolt Drei Project GmbH and its shareholder LG Batterie GmbH to assume costs for maintaining and securing the assets, including personnel costs of the German subsidiary.

Financial Consequences of the Insolvency

For the construction of the factory, Northvolt had received a convertible loan of 600 million euros from the state development bank KfW, which was guaranteed in equal parts by the federal government and the state. After the insolvency, the public sector was only able to secure 153 million euros of the loan. The financial damage for Schleswig-Holstein amounts to around 200 million euros, according to information from the committee.

Unlike the Swedish parent, the German subsidiary Northvolt Drei had not gone into insolvency but had been kept alive by the federal government and the state. In return for taking over the ongoing costs, the state of Schleswig-Holstein and Lyten signed an exclusivity agreement with the goal of concluding a final purchase contract in the third quarter. The purchase price is to be split equally between the federal government and the state in the event of a deal.

Dan Cook announced plans to develop the site as a German hub for clean battery production and industrial manufacturing, which would also host AI infrastructure. Quote: "Wir planen, Drei als deutschen Hub für saubere Batterieproduktion und industrielle Fertigung zu entwickeln, auf dem auch KI Infrastruktur angesiedelt werden soll." Lyten is thus not planning a business that depends solely on electric car batteries, but rather production for a broad spectrum of applications, including defense, stationary energy storage, mobility, and electric vehicles.

Lyten's Economic Plans

Cook described the location as characterized by a high availability of renewable energies and exceptionally qualified regional skilled workers. Quote: "Für Lyten ist dies eine langfristig angelegte Investition mit einer Perspektive über mehrere Jahrzehnte." At the site between Norderwöhrden and Lohe Rickelshof, extensive earthworks as well as the installation of the power and supply infrastructure had been completed before the insolvency of Northvolt AB.

Minister-President Daniel Günther (CDU) stated that the agreement brings months of negotiations over the German Northvolt subsidiary to the finish line. Quote: "Damit gehen monatelange Verhandlungen über die deutsche Northvolt-Tochter und ihr Gelände bei Heide in die Zielgerade." Economics Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen (CDU) said the goal of the legally non-binding letter of intent was to record the conditions of the asset purchase; the state is not a contractual partner, but is in an economically advantageous position together with the federal government.

Criticism from the Opposition

Nicolas Steinbacher, head of the German Northvolt subsidiary, said the letter of intent creates an important foundation for a takeover and a new future for the project. SPD economic policy spokesman Kianusch Stender called for a sound basis for decision-making and expressed considerable doubts that such a basis exists. Sybilla Nitsch from the SSW emphasized that after the Northvolt case, openness is the order of the day.

Former Economics Minister Bernd Buchholz (FDP) criticized the decision-making basis as unsound. Quote: "Die Entscheidungsgrundlage ist auch in diesem Fall nicht belastbar, sodass die Landesregierung dem Verkauf eigentlich nicht zustimmen kann. Tut sie es doch, tut sie es - wie schon bei der Wandelanleihe - blind." The Constitutional Court had ruled, in response to lawsuits by the FDP and SPD, that the state government had not sufficiently informed the parliament about the risks of the project.

The State Court of Audit had accused the state government of violating budgetary regulations with its promotion of the project. The state parliament committee addressed the status of the proceedings on Tuesday, without an immediate decision being made on the matter.