Government rules out bailout for key project in European green industrial transition as job cuts announced

Just three years ago, Sweden’s then prime minister, Stefan Löfven, visited Northvolt’s base near the Arctic Circle in Skellefteå – Europe’s first homegrown battery gigafactory – and declared the city “the future” in the fight against the climate crisis. Its work had huge significance for Sweden and the world, the Social Democrat said.

The arrival of the battery manufacturer was not only supposed to be a flagship project for Sweden’s “green industrial revolution” but hailed as Europe’s big hope against dependence on oil and imported batteries from China.