US lithium-sulfur battery maker Lyten buys Northvolt’s 6 GWh Polish production site

US-based lithium sulfur battery maker Lyten has announced plans to restart production at Europe’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS) production facility, in Poland.

The Northvolt Dwa ESS site in Gdansk has been bought by the Californian startup for an undisclosed fee from Swedish battery maker Northvolt, which filed for bankruptcy in its homeland in March.

“Northvolt’s BESS manufacturing operations are truly world class and are a seamless strategic fit for Lyten as we launch an exciting new chapter for our company,” said Lyten CEO and Co-founder Dan Cook. “We plan to immediately restart operations in Poland and deliver on existing and new customer orders. The Port of Gdansk, local, and federal officials have all been fully supportive as we combine Silicon Valley technology with Polish engineering and operations talent to export next-generation energy storage technology to customers worldwide.”

Announcing the purchase on Tuesday, Lyten said it will use the Gdansk site – which can produce 6 GWh per year of BESS – to make products including its ultra-lightweight lithium-sulfur batteries.

San Jose-based Lyten in November bought the Californian production facilities of the Cuberg lithium metal battery technology business shuttered by Northvolt three months earlier, pledging to invest up to $20 million this year into developing 200 MWh of annual lithium-sulfur battery production capacity at that site, in San Leandro, California.

Northvolt’s 25,000 m² Gdansk site came online in 2023, runs on clean energy, has contracted orders into next year and has the space to expand to more than 10 GWh of annual output, according to its new owner.

Lyten says its lithium-sulfur devices can operate in a wider temperature range than conventional lithium-ion batteries, have a better safety record, feature only abundantly-available materials which can be found in the United States and Europe, offer high energy density, and are ultra-lightweight.

The expansion into Europe planned by Lyten follows the company’s decision, announced in October, to invest $1 billion in a 10 GWh fab at Reno AirLogistics Park, near Stead Airport in Nevada. At the time, Lyten said it intended to break ground on that 1.25 million ft² facility this year with its first phase to be operational in 2027.

Northvolt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States in November and repeated the move for the whole business, in Stockholm in March. In April it was announced the company would continue operations in a reduced form as attempts were made to sell off all or part of the remaining business.

The Swedish company, originally a flagship part of the European Union’s push to establish a domestic clean energy supply chain, has been seeking partners or investors in its Gdansk production site since September.