PNE Solution fails to clinch Northvolt equipment order 

PNE Solution have failed to clinch Northvolt’s order for battery equipment that would have been used in commercial production lines.

South Korean battery equipment maker said Monday it failed in its bid to supply formation equipment to the Swedish electric vehicle (EV) battery maker.

It’s competition Wuxi Lead Intelligent of China likely won the order.

The size of the deal wasn’t made public but is thought to have been around 80 billion won as Northvolt’s new factory is expected to have an annual production output of 4GWh.

CAPEX for 1GWh is around 100 billion won. For 4GWh, it will be 400 billion won and formation equipment spending is usually around 20% to 30%.

PNE Solution has previously won Northvolt’s order for equipment used for research and development. This has raised hope for the firm that it will lead winning the order for those to be used for actual factory lines. PNE’s equipment are used by South Korean battery makers Samsung SDI, LG Chem and SK Innovation.

Winning an equipment order for research usually leads to the larger order for the factory lines, people familiar with the matter said. PNE Solution’s failure to do so shows the competence of its Chinese rivals, they also said.

Wuxi Lead Intelligence was the major vendor for Northvolt’s first EV battery factory. It also boasts Chinese battery giant CATL as a client. It supplies equipment from mixing to distribution, all in turn-key, which is main strength.

Meanwhile, Northvolt is planning to form a joint venture with Volkswagen to build a 24GWh a year factory by 2024. The first factory line was completed last month and it is adding 4GWh sequentially to expand the factory. The latest order was for the second factory line.

Another South Korean equipment maker, Jeil Machine, is supplying its mixing equipment to Northvolt. Compatriot CIS has supplied its coating equipment for the Swedish firm.