Even though Northvolt is experiencing financial difficulty, the Legault government is convinced that the Montérégie battery plant will go ahead, but it is opening the door to the possibility of redistributing part of the promised energy supply block to other companies.
New Quebec Economy and Energy Minister Christine Fréchette hinted at this on Tuesday evening after a meeting with Paolo Cerruti, the head of the Swedish company in North America, at a time when electric vehicle and battery manufacturers are going through turbulence.
Northvolt has had to lay off 1,600 workers in Sweden, one-fifth of its workforce, but the planned plant in Quebec will be built according to the original plans and with a revised timetable, according to the minister.
Is Northvolt at risk of bankruptcy, as Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy suggested, citing Bloomberg?
Fréchette said in a news scrum in the parliamentary press gallery that “they are not in that scenario at all. They are redefining the timetable for Quebec.”
She said that “they are …