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Norwegian battery start-up Morrow Batteries has scooped up €100m in an investment round led by Siemens Financial Services and ABB. Other investors in the round were Nysnø Climate Investments and Arendals Fossekompani, as well as the company’s existing shareholders PKA, NOAH and Agder Energi Invest.
Commenting on the fundraising, Morrow CEO Terje Andersen said: “Bringing in long term, solid and competent capital from some of the leading industrial companies in Europe with a global reach will be of great value on our path to manufacture the most sustainable and cost-effective batteries. “Together with the backing from the Norwegian state-owned Nysnø Climate Investments, this brings us into the top tier of battery manufacturers in Europe.”
Proceeds from this funding round will go towards the first phase of the battery cell factory in Arendal.
The factory will initially have a production capacity of more than 1GWh of battery cells a year. This will increase to 43GWh a year once its development is completed in 2028.
The big bet at Morrow is of course on their successful commercialisation of a new generation of battery technologies on the high-voltage material LNMO (Lithium Nickel Manganese Oxide). The LNMO technology promises to be a more sustainable solution that uses cheap manganese as a scaffold to better use the lithium and nickel inside it.
This means batteries that are not only more environmentally friendly but also more cost-effective. Morrow hopes to make these by 2026 .
Once successful, they will have two product offerings. LNMO-X to supercharge heavy mobility (trains and ferries) and the long-life Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) markets. LNMO-C offers the highest practical single-cell voltage in the world (>4.5V) according to the firm.