Northvolt to be served notice of suspicion of gross manslaughter over worker death

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Northvolt is to be served with an investigation notice regarding suspicion of gross manslaughter in the coming weeks by Swedish prosecutors over the death of one of the battery manufacturer’s workers in an explosion at its troubled sub-Arctic gigafactory.

Environmental prosecutor Christer B Jarlås told the Financial Times that Northvolt — which is currently fighting for financial survival because of production problems at the same factory — will be served with formal notice of the suspicion shortly, a step before any charges are brought.

“We have questioned lots of people employed by the company, we now want to question somebody who can speak for the company,” he said of the near year-long investigation.

A 25-year-old Northvolt worker died in December after suffering severe burns the previous month in an explosion on a production line, an event that the industrial start-up’s chief executive called “a dark day”.

Northvolt did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told Swedish media that it was in contact with prosecutors and police and declined to say more.

The Swedish industrial start-up has suffered a difficult year with the death causing a full production stop that led to complaints from truckmaker Scania about slow deliveries. This summer, BMW, one of Northvolt’s biggest shareholders and earliest customers, cancelled a $2bn battery contract over concerns about the speed of deliveries.

After a strategic review, the start-up this month announced that more than a fifth of jobs would be cut and its active materials, recycling and energy storage businesses would be mothballed. There will also be potential delays to factories it is planning in Sweden, Germany and Canada.

The group — whose biggest shareholders are carmaker Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs Asset Management — is struggling to raise fresh capital in a financing round that has taken far longer than planned, raising questions about its ability to survive despite raising $15bn since its launch, more than any other private start-up in Europe.

Creditors for a $5bn debt facility to Northvolt are due to meet on Friday to discuss the loan. Northvolt has hired consultancy Teneo for restructuring advice. Swedish media reported that the meeting would include discussion of $1.5bn of the loan that has yet to be paid out.

Peter Carlsson, Northvolt’s chief executive and co-founder, told the Financial Times this week that it was in an “intense dialogue” with investors, who had demanded it reduce its cash needs through job cuts and improve its path to profitability.

Sweden’s government has ruled out a state rescue of the company, which has been in discussions with authorities in Canada and Germany as well. Northvolt has sought to portray the business as crucial to Europe’s ability to fight back against competition from Asian companies such as CATL, BYD and LG in building batteries, a key component for the automobile industry.