FREYR Battery Provides Operations Update

Oct 4, 2023

FREYR surpasses most complex remaining technical hurdle to commence initial fully automated production at the CQP in 4Q 2023

New York, Oslo and Luxembourg, October 4, 2023, FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY) (“FREYR”), a developer of clean, next-generation battery cell production capacity, provided an update this morning on the company’s continued operational progress at the Customer Qualification Plant (“CQP”) in Mo i Rana, Norway.

Process automation

FREYR has achieved the interim milestone of automatic electrode casting with solvent slurry. This step, which was met in accordance with FREYR’s planned timeline, was one of three previously communicated precursors to reaching initial fully automated production at the CQP. Last week, FREYR’s project execution and operations team demonstrated automated casting with solvent slurry to representatives from Nidec Corporation (TSE: 6594) to validate operational performance of the Casting and Unit Cell Assembly equipment without the constraints of working in a dry room environment.

The final remaining process milestones to reach fully automated production at the CQP are:

Automated casting with electrolyte slurry in a dry room environment.
Complete commissioning and testing of the merging unit to enable fully automated production of cells.

FREYR remains on track to meet these milestones to commence fully automated production at the CQP during 4Q 2023. Achieving process automation is a key milestone that will position FREYR to produce and ship sample cells to customers including Nidec, which is expected to subsequently catalyze the Giga America project equity farm down process.

“Our projects and operations teams have achieved another key and highly complex milestone on the path to fully automated production at the CQP with our partners from Nidec and 24M Technologies on hand to witness. With the automatic casting trials now complete, our teams are working around the clock in cooperation with our colleagues at Mpac Group plc to finalize commissioning and standard operating procedures, produce cells as part of our ongoing testing program, demonstrate the unique capabilities of the 24M SemiSolid^TM platform, and commence fully automated production at the CQP in 4Q 2023,”

— Birger Steen, FREYR’s Chief Executive Officer.

“I was impressed by the remarkable pace at which the FREYR team successfully completed its casting trials. This achievement marks a significant milestone and a pivotal moment for all of us, as it empowers our collaborative team to address any remaining issues and commence the start-up of the fully automated CQP line,”

— Tim Rineck, Vice President of Global Operations, 24M Technologies.

“I am very pleased by what I observed during my most recent visit to FREYR’s CQP. The speed at which FREYR has been maturing the SemiSolid^TM production platform is both impressive and encouraging. Nidec and FREYR, who are already collaborating to package FREYR’s battery cells with Nidec modules to provide integrated, fit-for-purpose Energy Storage Systems solutions through our Nidec Energy AS Joint Venture, are now investigating ways in which we can further strengthen our partnership.”

— Laurent Demortier, President of Nidec’s Energy & Infrastructure division