Northvolt is to be served with an investigation notice regarding suspicion of gross manslaughter in the coming weeks by Swedish prosecutors over the death of one of the battery manufacturer’s workers in an explosion at its troubled sub-Arctic gigafactory.
A 25-year-old Northvolt worker died in December after suffering severe burns the previous month in an explosion on a production line.
The Swedish industrial start-up has suffered a difficult year with the death causing a full production stop that led to complaints from truckmaker Scania about slow deliveries. This summer, BMW, one of Northvolt’s biggest shareholders and earliest customers, cancelled a $2bn battery contract over concerns about the speed of deliveries.
After a strategic review, the start-up this month announced that more than a fifth of jobs would be cut and its active materials, recycling and energy storage businesses would be mothballed. There will also be potential delays to factories it is planning in Sweden, Germany and Canada.
Creditors for a $5bn debt facility to Northvolt are due to meet on Friday to discuss the loan.
Sweden’s government has ruled out a state rescue of the company.