Chinese battery supplier Shanghai Putailai New Energy Technology is investing up to SKr15.7bn ($1.5bn) in a new facility in Sweden to develop and manufacture anodes, an integral part of lithium-ion batteries, according to a company statement on May 5.

Situated in the city of Sundsvall, the project is expected to have a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes by 2025 and 100,000 tonnes by the end of 2026 or early 2027, which would make it Europe’s biggest anode manufacturing plant. Putailai will establish a wholly owned subsidiary Zichen Sweden to set up the plant, with 70% of the investment will be funded by debt and the remaining 30% by the company itself. 

“Overseas markets such as Europe are an indispensable and important part of the global demand for new energy vehicles,” the company said in the statement, adding that its planned production capacity has been determined by preliminary conversations with customers about orders of anode materials.

Norway’s Nel invests in Michigan

Norwegian hydrogen technology company Nel said on May 3 that it will invest $400m in an electrolyser manufacturing facility in the US state of Michigan.

When fully developed, the facility will have a production capacity of up to four gigawatts of alkaline and proton-exchange membrane electrolysers. It is expected to create some 500 jobs and become one of the biggest electrolyser manufacturing plants in the world. The announcement was made during the SelectUSA Investment Summit 2023.

Nel’s CEO, Håkon Volldal, said in the company’s statement that it selected Michigan “based on an overall assessment of what the state can offer in terms of financial incentives, access to a highly skilled workforce, and cooperation with universities, research institutions, and strategic partners.”

Adani Ports sell Myanmar port

Indian port operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), subsidiary of the Adani Group, has agreed to sell its Myanmar port to an undisclosed buyer for $30m, according to a company release on May 4.

The sale, which had been announced in May 2022, had been renegotiated to the current figure of $30m after delays in the approval process. APSEZ said it obtained an independent valuation on “as is where is” basis, meaning it will be sold in its current condition.

Karan Adani, CEO of APSEZ, said in a statement that “this exit is in line with the guidance provided by the APSEZ Board based on the recommendations made by the risk committee in October 2021”.

And finally: India and Russia scrap the idea of trading in rupees, Reuters has reported.