Freyr cut 78 employees – ten of them from Mo i Rana – at NRK Nordland

Battery company Freyr has been in bad weather lately.

While the company’s owners and managers are making good money through favorable stock sales and bonuses, things are going badly for the company itself.

In November, it became clear that the company was halting construction of a “gigafactory” to produce industrial-scale batteries.

This is because Freire wants to cut costs in half in Norway.

On Monday, Freyr CEO Birger Steen delivered even more bad news on Rana: 10 employees have lost their jobs.

– We have announced that we are going to reduce the use of cash in the company by more than 50 percent, says Stein to NRK in Moi Rana.

At the same time, many jobs are being transferred from other places to Rana.

– So Rana’s effect here will be relatively small, says Stein.

In total, 78 people are to join the company.

– Most of the missing positions are at our head office in Lysagar, Oslo, he says.

Even Freyr CEO Stein doesn’t know what will happen to the massive NOK 2.8 billion industrial building already built.

– We are now finishing the building these days and will keep it warm at 12 degrees Celsius. If the conditions are right, we will resume battery production there.

Reduces the number of directors

While Freyr is cutting the workforce at Rana, they are also cutting top management.

The company writes that a Stock market notification Monday.

The company used to have 19 directors, but after today’s reorganization the number has come down to 6.

Helgelands Flat Originally wrote about the director’s cut.

Olaug Svarva, former head of Folketrygdfonnet, is also leaving the group.

– Now is the right time for me to resign from Freire’s group. I wish Frayer and management all the great work to build a clean and sustainable battery value chain,” he says in the press release.

TU Editor: The full battery investment is under pressure

In a commentary titledBye bye batteries» John M., editor of Technik UKblog. Moberg writes about the state of the Norwegian battery adventures – especially Freire’s situation.

“The result is that a huge factory building in Moi Rana is empty and will have to be used for something completely different. Also, a large part of the employees recruited for the business venture in the north will have to be laid off. It looks like a complete collapse at the 66th latitude.”

In front of NRK, Moberg elaborates.

– All battery investment in Europe is under pressure from US deflationary legislation – so it’s not just in Norway.

He describes the lucrative support program as a vacuum cleaner for green industry projects that has been absorbed into North America.

In addition, Norway stands to lose one of its greatest advantages: access to abundant and cheap renewable energy.

– We no longer have a power advantage because it is too small, Moberg says.

Bonus party and stock drop

Many media including Today’s businessFreyr writes about how Dopps and the founders earned fat stock sales and bonuses—and before a battery was even made.

– Of course, Freyr this stock price boom, high salary and bonus was no better. That doesn’t make it any easier to get reliable money, Moberg says.

When the quarterly report for Q3 was released on November 9, the stock price fell.

A year ago, the value per share was NOK 156. It is now down to NOK 17. This is an 89 percent depreciation.

– The question now is whether the train has left. Although Dobbs promises to buy back shares in the companyMoberg says the question is whether the train didn’t leave after that.