Now the factory building will start, which will be bigger than the Old Town

It is most similar to a gigantic sandbox or a gravel roof, a giant patch of 50 hectares in the forest outside Skellefteå. But nowadays it is time to seriously start building the battery factory which is scheduled to become one of Europe's largest. The finished factory is estimated to consume 1.5 per cent of Sweden's electricity generation. In two years' time it is intended that batteries for electric cars and energy storage should be manufactured.

- It's new industrial history being written. It will move a lot of new people into Skellefteå and we look forward to that. It will of course mean tax revenue for the municipality, but the service industry and many different industries also benefit from it, says Lorents Burman (S), the chairman of the local council.

The ground has been prepared for about a year. Now the company behind, Northvolt, has secured about SEK 16 billion in investments, so the first phase of the factory is now being started. A huge investment, at the same time, Northvolt is a company that has only been around for three years.

- It is clear that it is tough to enter this industry, where a prerequisite for being competitive is large-scale. But we have worked systematically with both the customer side, how we recruit and collaborate with other companies to reduce the risks, says Peter Carlsson, CEO and founder of Northvolt.

For Skellefteå, this is a huge project. 40,000 trees have been felled and now the municipality will build roads and draw water and electricity. The current 50-hectare plot is considerably larger than the Old Town in Stockholm, but in total Northvolt's area can be four times larger, 200 hectares. Around this, the municipality expects to build additional industrial areas for companies that are attracted to it, areas that also need roads, water and electricity.

- What is happening now is the same as when gold was found in Boliden 100 years ago, says Bengt Ivansson, business manager at Skellefteå.

It is primarily the transformation of the car industry that allows projects like Northvolt to get air under the wings. Large parts of the car industry want to go from petrol and diesel to electric cars, so huge amounts of batteries are needed. It will also mean great competition for staff and raw materials.

People then? Is there not much competition for those who know this?

- Yes, and we will need just over 500 people next year and many more. Obviously it will be a challenge.

Where do those who work here come from?

- They will come from all over the world. We have built up a cell design team primarily from South Korea and Japan, and we have 45 nationalities here so it is a very international group. But it is clear that we will need a lot of talented Swedish employees too, says Peter Carlsson.

For Skellefteå, the fact that the factory can provide 2500 to 3000 jobs is attractive. But it is also important to get as many people as possible to want to live and stay in the municipality, if you do not want to miss parts of the cake.

- We are thinking a lot about this, we will make great efforts to sign up here in the municipality, says Lorents Burman.