Helena Soderpalm & Niklas Poloard

STOCKHOLM (Reuters), -Automaker Volvo Cars has announced that Northvolt, the battery maker, will jointly build a battery plant in Gothenburg. This is according to two companies.

According to the Sweden-based firms, up to 3,000 new jobs will be created by the 50-gigawatt hour (GWh), plant that produces battery cells specially designed for pure electric Volvos and Polestars. In 2025, operations will be started.

Last year, the two companies announced that they would create a joint venture for battery development. This will include setting up a gigafactory to produce batteries and a research and development center. The total investment is approximately 30 billion crowns ($3.3 million).

Volvo and Northvolt announced that former Tesla (NASDAQ) executive Adrian Clarke was appointed as the company’s chief operating officer.

Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson told Reuters that he has a wealth of Tesla experience and knows how to construct these types factories.

Javier Varela (Voice Cars’ head of engineering and operation), stated that Gothenburg was Volvo’s home because it had access to clean energy and the infrastructure needed for this.

The competition is fierce for talent with the majority of battery engineers being based overseas. European factories are being built by Tesla, Samsung (KS-SDI) and other Asian companies like LG and Samsung.

Northvolt’s Skelleftea gigafactory located in Sweden produced the first European battery cell. It was the result of a collaboration between the European companies that designed and manufactured the battery.

Carlsson stated that it is running according to plan, but he noted that global supply chain problems, shortages of semiconductors, and COVID-19 made it harder. He stated that it was not an easy task.

Volvo Cars is majority owned by China’s Geely Holding. The company aims to produce 50% electric vehicles by the end of this decade, and 100% electric cars by 2030.

Northvolt is owned by Volkswagen (DE) and has received more than $30 Billion in contracts so far from clients such as BMW, Fluence. Scania. Volkswagen. Volvo Cars. Polestar.

($1 = 9.0703 Swedish crowns