If all goes according to plan, Morrow will then expand to vehicles, with plans to build another three LFP facilities in Arendal before 2029.
Of course, this company won’t be able to match China’s formidable LFP production on its own — and yet, it exists. It exists because Å Energi dared to commit to this new technology, because the Norwegian government agreed to grant a loan, and because the EU decided to support the undertaking too.
To date, the path to EV batteries has been strewn with grand ambition and, alas, bankruptcies. In the past couple years alone, Northvolt in Sweden and Britishvolt in the U.K. have both gone bust. But as technical as it may sound, LFP batteries are the surest way for Europe to reduce its dependence on Chinese EVs. So, if Morrow succeeds, and is perhaps joined by one or two new European battery-makers, Europe’s EV manufacturers will be better able to compete with Chinese rivals. To be viable, the green transition has to be a collective undertaking.
It’s no surprise that this pioneering LFP factory is located in Norway, as the country has made EV adoption a priority. In 2023, nine in 10 cars sold in the country were already EVs, and the Norwegian government wants all newly sold cars to be zero-emission by the end of this year. Norway doesn’t have any significant car manufacturers, and unlike most battery-makers, Morrow isn’t owned by a car manufacturer. But LFP batteries look certain to be the future in all kinds of applications — and Norway is grabbing that opportunity.
Morrow’s factory, or factories, may lose money at first, but in the long run, they’ll be a benefit to their owners and to Norway — not to mention Western consumers. Even more crucially, the arrival of a battery factory in Arendal points to a fundamental reality: that to do the right thing for our supply chains and, in many cases, the climate, companies need to team up with unexpected partners, and occasionally with the government too.
In today’s climate, so to speak, business plans can no longer solely focus on immediate profit.