Two employees have died in separate accidents at Northvolt’s battery gigafactory in Sweden in latest weeks, with a technician succumbing to burns after an explosion on a manufacturing line and a building employee killed by a falling fork stand. pv journal has discovered that the gear that caught fireplace was not part of the battery manufacturing course of.
Two employees have died in separate accidents inside the area of two weeks at Northvolt’s battery gigafactory in Skelleftea, northern Sweden.
On Nov. 4, a 25-year-old man who labored as a technician and did upkeep work on a manufacturing line was injured in an explosion. He died late final week as a consequence of extreme burns.
“Formal investigations are underway to find out exactly what led to the accident in November, however our present understanding is that we had a mud explosion in a machine that’s not immediately part of the battery manufacturing course of,” Matti Kataja, Northvolt director of communication and public affairs Nordics, informed pv journal. “Thorough threat assessments have been made and mitigating actions have been taken.”
In a separate incident, a person in his 60s, employed by building contractor NCC, died after a fork stand fell on him and a 20-year-old man. The youthful particular person suffered critical accidents. NCC was constructing a concrete basis for Northvolt’s battery manufacturing unit enlargement when the accident occurred.
“The accident final Thursday occurred exterior throughout building work. The exact circumstances and occasions which led as much as the accident are underneath investigation. Northvolt is in dialogue with all related stakeholders,” stated Kataja. “One particular person is being handled at hospital, however not in essential situation.”
The manufacturing unit in Skelleftea, also referred to as Northvolt Ett, is the producer’s first gigafactory. It goals to ramp up the ability to 60 GWh of annual manufacturing capability – sufficient to provide batteries for 1 million electrical automobiles per yr.
In December 2021, Northvolt grew to become the primary producer to provide lithium-ion battery cells which might be absolutely designed, developed and assembled by a homegrown European battery firm. The primary cells rolled off its manufacturing strains at Northvolt Ett, which initially aimed for 16 GWh of battery capability per yr.
Afterward, Northvolt has revealed plans for the enlargement of the Skelleftea plant, in addition to for 3 extra factories in Germany, Canada, and Sweden.
This content material is protected by copyright and is probably not reused. If you wish to cooperate with us and wish to reuse a few of our content material, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
