KIEL (dpa-AFX) - The insolvency of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt continues to fuel heated political debates in Schleswig-Holstein. The government and opposition are wrangling over how to disclose files relating to the planned battery factory in Heide. Now the SPD and FDP parliamentary groups want to force the files to be declassified with the help of a conciliation committee.
FDP member Bernd Buchholz explained in a joint meeting of the state parliament's finance and economic committees in Kiel that there had been repeated differences of opinion between the black-green state government and the opposition parties regarding the redaction of certain passages in the files. It is also unlikely that the opposition and the government will be able to reach a compromise.
Therefore, a conciliation committee must now decide whether the state government must release the passages requested by the SPD and FDP, which have been redacted until now. Otherwise, this issue could end up before the state constitutional court, Buchholz emphasized.
Members of the state parliament factions have long been allowed to inspect state government files relating to Northvolt's request. The government has gradually released parts of these files, but heavily redacted. Further meetings of the finance and economic committees will take place in early July. At the same time, the conciliation committee is also expected to begin its work.
Expert opinion still under wraps
The aim was to support the Swedish battery manufacturer's move to the region with a €600 million convertible bond. The federal and state governments each agreed to cover half of the sum. According to the opposition parties, the question remains as to what information about the opportunities and risks was available when the decision to issue the bond was made.
"With the knowledge we have today, it is of course easy to rise above and criticize many things," said Economics Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen (CDU) in the committee. He rejected the claim that warnings from various experts had been ignored when the convertible bond was approved. The decisive factor was an expert opinion from the auditing firm PwC, which remains under lock and key at the Federal Ministry of Economics.
Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in Sweden on March 12. It remains unclear what will happen to the factory under construction in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein. According to earlier statements, the German project company is not directly affected by the bankruptcy.
How much will Northvolt cost the state?
It is still unclear how much the insolvency of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt will ultimately cost Germany. In 2020, the federal government secured 80 percent of a commercial bank financing tranche for the Swedish company worth over US$525 million to ensure the supply of batteries to the German automotive industry.
In addition, Northvolt received around 600 million euros from the state-owned KfW development bank for the construction of the factory near Heide. On top of this comes 20 million euros for interest and legal costs. According to information from the German Press Agency, more than half of the convertible bond has been used up.
In addition, at the beginning of 2024, the EU Commission approved direct loans from the federal and state governments totaling around €700 million (€137 million from the state, €564 million from the federal government). However, this money has not yet been paid out.
Production at Northvolt's central location will be completely shut down. Until recently, battery cell production there had been able to continue with limited staffing and support from its only existing customer, Scania, insolvency administrator Mikael Kubu announced at the end of May. /xil/DP/mis
