What was originally celebrated as a green prestige project for Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) is increasingly developing into a financial fiasco: The Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, which was supposed to build a gigantic cell factory in Heide, is apparently facing insolvency - with devastating consequences for the taxpayer. According to research by NIUS, up to 600 million euros of taxpayers' money have already been lost, and another 700 million euros could follow.

Even more explosive: An internal report of the Federal Audit Office available to the NIUS press house raises serious accusations against Habeck's ministry. There is talk of systematically misjudged risks, inadequate documentation and deception of the Bundestag's budget committee.

In 2022, Northvolt was considered a promising project in European battery cell production. To enable the construction of the plant in Heide, the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) provided a so-called convertible bond in the amount of 600 million euros – secured by the federal government and the state of Schleswig-Holstein.

In the run-up to the event, two external expert opinions were commissioned: one on the economic assessment, another on the legal situation. Even there, considerable deficiencies came to light. According to the Federal Court of Auditors, the economic report was prepared "under time pressure" and on the basis of insufficient documents. Particularly striking: Northvolt was unable to provide any comparisons to competing products – benchmarking simply did not take place.

Although the auditors assessed Northvolt's technology as fundamentally competitive, the growth targets – to break into the top 10 in the industry within a few years – were classified as "ambitious" and therefore highly risky. In addition, the company reported steadily increasing losses – despite rising sales.

The legal opinion also sounded the alarm: the parallel construction of a plant in Sweden was stalling – costs were exploding, schedules were shaky. The management structure was also assessed as potentially overwhelmed, given the double burden. Despite all these indications, the ministry under Habeck neither changed the financing framework nor warned the budget committee in a sufficient form.

According to the Federal Court of Auditors, the accusation that the Bundestag committee was not informed about the risk of default – although it was at least 14 percent according to the report – is particularly serious. Interestingly, this figure is based on assumptions that treat Northvolt like an established, listed company – although the group clearly had a start-up character according to all valuations. The real probability of default is therefore likely to be significantly higher.

According to the Court of Auditors, the assessment was "one-sidedly optimistic" and had ignored too many scenarios. The decision-making process was insufficiently documented – central communication channels between the ministry, experts and KfW are completely missing. A clear violation of the duty to keep records properly, according to the Federal Office.

🧨 To blame for failure? According to the BMWK: the traffic light budget

The BMWK later defended itself by saying that "external factors" had led to the bankruptcy. Among other things, reference was made to the withdrawal of investors and to the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, which declared the reallocation of Corona debts in the federal budget unconstitutional in 2023.

The resulting discontinuation of e-car subsidies has massively worsened the order situation for Northvolt. However, we do not accept this explanation – it had already warned of precisely these financial risks at the beginning of 2022. In addition, it is not demand, but the delay in series production that is the actual trigger for the crisis.

In its final report, we criticise the Ministry of Economic Affairs in clear terms. There had been "significant deficits in the assessment of risks", and none of the ministry's statements had been able to refute them.

The report draws parallels to the controversial shutdown of nuclear power plants: There, too, the ministry demonstrably did not follow professional warnings, but was driven by the political goal. The price for this "hope strategy": billions of taxpayers' money – burned.

Conclusion: What began as a green prestige project is now being exposed as a prime example of state mismanagement. The Northvolt file is more than just an economic failure – it is a reminder of blind faith in progress, a lack of transparency and a devastating political risk culture.













MFRadio.de 
Author: By Julius Böhm, for Pressehaus NIUS
Sources: NIUS.de