EU Permits Huge German State Aid Package for Battery Maker

Germany will be permitted to allocate nearly a billion euros for the construction of a planned Northvolt factory near the northern German city of Heide. This marks an instance of new rules allowing national governments within the European Union to match subsidies offered outside the bloc for projects of strategic importance.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition commissioner, announced the decision in Brussels, stating, "This EUR 902 million German measure is the first individual aid being approved to prevent an investment from being diverted away from Europe."

Of the total amount, EUR 700 million will be provided as a grant, with guarantees making up the remaining EUR 202 million. German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, was present in Brussels for the announcement and expressed his satisfaction, saying he was "very, very happy."

The Northvolt factory represents the most significant industrial project in the northern German regional state of Schleswig-Holstein in decades. The site will capitalize on the availability of substantial amounts of clean, wind-generated electricity on and near Germany's North Sea coast.