U.S. supermaterial and lithium-sulfur battery firm Lyten has signed an exclusive memorandum of understanding to acquire Northvolt Drei, the abandoned battery gigafactory project near Heide in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Announced on July 1 and priced at roughly €60 million, the deal advances Lyten's plan to convert one of Europe's most heavily subsidised battery brownfields into a lithium-sulfur, storage and AI-infrastructure hub.
What the MoU covers
The MoU was signed by Lyten together with KfW — Germany's state-owned promotional bank — the federal government, the state government of Schleswig-Holstein, and Northvolt Drei Project GmbH plus its shareholder LG Batterie GmbH. The parties are now working toward a definitive sales agreement in the third quarter of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. The transaction covers the entire 110-hectare Heide site, which had received significant groundwork and utility infrastructure before Northvolt's insolvency in early 2026.
A leaner plant than Northvolt planned
Lyten's plans for Heide are more modest than Northvolt's original 60 GWh vision. The company has previously said it intends to create around 1,000 jobs — a third of Northvolt's 3,000-job target — and to co-locate cell production with a large battery energy storage system and a data centre on the site. The Heide play stacks on top of Lyten's March acquisition of Northvolt's Revolt battery recycling plant in Sweden, giving the company a European upstream-to-downstream footprint alongside its San Jose pilot line and a planned Polish industrial hub.
Recovering public money
The MoU also softens the losses to Germany's public purse. The federal and state governments had extended a €600 million convertible loan to Northvolt Drei, of which more than €300 million was drawn; €153 million in unused funds has already been repaid, another €69 million is expected to follow, and the balance is held in escrow. Chancellor-era ceremonies with Olaf Scholz and Robert Habeck in 2024 had cast the plant as a cornerstone of European battery sovereignty before Northvolt filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. in November 2024 and Swedish insolvency in March 2025.
Battery M&A wave rolls on
Lyten's Drei deal is the latest in a run of European battery consolidation, coming as the industry contends with fragile demand and stranded gigafactory assets. It follows the multi-GWh storage build-outs that are absorbing former EV battery capacity and comes as the industry re-benchmarks against new chemistries, from Lyten's lithium-sulfur cells to sodium-ion and iron-air platforms like Ore Energy's 1 GWh Dutch iron-air deal.
Reporting based on coverage from Lyten press release, electrive.com, Der Spiegel, NDR, Renewables Now and Battery-Tech Network.