Panasonic plans to build a Norwegian plant knocking on the European new energy market coincides with Britain's push into electrification policy

SMM: according to the latest report, Panasonic, the main supplier of Tesla power batteries, is planning to build its first battery factory in Norway. The company will work with Norwegian state-controlled oil and gas giant Equinor and aluminum company Norsk Hydro to conduct a feasibility study on expanding its European battery business, which will be completed within six months.

Alan Swan (Allan Swan), head of Panasonic's US battery manufacturing division, said the size of the Norwegian plant would depend on the results of the study and could be "about the same" as the Nevada superplant, a joint venture between Panasonic and Tesla, which is about to upgrade its capacity to 38 billion watt-hours a year, making it the world's largest battery plant.

(Arvid Moss), head of energy and corporate development at Norsk Hydro, added that the company would study with Panasonic "the entire supply chain", including the possibility of purchasing raw materials such as cobalt and lithium from Europe. Several cobalt and lithium mining projects are under way in Sweden and Finland, but the scale of these projects is unclear.

It is worth mentioning that on the same day of the report, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in the media column that the sale of new gasoline, diesel cars and vans would be stopped in 2030, but the sale of hybrid cars and vans would be allowed. That's five years ahead of the 2035 that Johnson promised in February.

Sword refers to the development of new customers in Europe to supply Tesla as a stepping stone?

This is another important strategic move in addition to Panasonic's recent acceleration of battery research and development, and it is also Panasonic's response to doubts about its business expansion ability.

According to the ranking of global power battery installation in the first three quarters of 2020 released by GGII, Panasonic, which first supplied Tesla, only ranked third, behind the "latecomers" LG Chemical and Ningde era. At the same time, the Tesla European super factory is about to start, but the supplier has not yet been determined, and according to Musk, Tesla is looking to build his own battery factory.

Under the internal and external troubles, Panasonic, which was once criticized by customers for being too single, must make changes. Some commentators believe that Tesla's move will play down the impact of Panasonic's self-built factory on its own battery business. at the same time, Panasonic will also use its successful experience in supplying Panasonic as a "stepping stone" in the European market. win business from other automakers.

According to Transport & Environment, a policy agency, electric vehicles' share of the European market will rise to 15% in 2021, and battery demand will grow rapidly as electric vehicle sales take off. Alan Swan believes that the European market is still a growing market, and European automakers are expected to become the most "progressive" companies in the industry.

It is not easy for a square battery to become a new growth point.

However, at a time when Europe is increasingly becoming a must for new energy vehicles, it is not easy for Panasonic, which is belated, to "snatch food from the tiger". In addition to the "old rival" LG Chemistry and the Ningde era, the Swedish factory of European lithium upstart Northvolt has received large orders from Volkswagen, BMW, Ikea and Goldman Sachs.

Compared with these companies, Panasonic's business in the European market has been small. At the same time, it should be pointed out that although Panasonic once supplied batteries to European automakers such as Volkswagen and Peugeot, the NCA 811 cylindrical batteries it developed and produced, which lead the industry in energy density, are still exclusively for Tesla.

At present, there is no news on which technical route Panasonic will adopt at Panasonic's Norwegian plant, but according to Soochow Securities's report on November 3, Panasonic is actively developing square batteries and opening up other customers because cylindrical batteries are bound to Tesla.

It is understood that Panasonic square battery produced by the Dalian base in China, the proposed construction of 20+gwh capacity, currently the main supporting Toyota. Zeng Duohong believes that with the acceleration of Toyota's electrification transformation and the launch of the pure electric platform eTNGA platform in 2021, the follow-up square battery will be the most important growth point of Panasonic power battery.

In terms of supply chain, Panasonic battery suppliers are mainly Japanese enterprises, and all of them are mainly supplied by Japanese enterprises, but with the improvement of technology and cost advantages of Chinese battery material suppliers, Panasonic battery suppliers are gradually introduced into domestic suppliers, including electrolyte New Zebang. Diaphragm Enjie shares Xingyuan material and so on.