In short
- Sweden’s Northvolt and Norway’s Morrow have both filed for bankruptcy.
- LeydenJar plans to start commercial-scale production of its silicon anode at the end of 2026, after 10 years of development.
- LeydenJar says its pure silicon foil anode can raise battery energy density by up to 50%.
- Powall applies coatings measured in nanometres, one-billionth of a metre, to battery powder granules measured in micrometres.
- Alexander Brown is a senior analyst at the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics).
Two Dutch deep-tech start-ups are betting that nanotechnology can give Europe a role in the global battery supply chain, after Sweden’s Northvolt and Norway’s Morrow filed for bankruptcy. LeydenJar, based in Eindhoven, expects to begin commercial-scale production of its silicon battery anode at the end of 2026; Powall, based in Delft, is building equipment to coat battery powders.
What happened to Europe’s battery industry?
Europe has made several large bets on battery manufacturing in recent years, and two of them ended in insolvency: Sweden’s Northvolt and Norway’s Morrow both filed for bankruptcy. With transport and industry switching from fossil fuels to electricity, batteries are seen as a growth business, but the time needed to bring new products to market and competition from China make the sector risky.
How does LeydenJar make a silicon anode?
LeydenJar uses a technique called plasma deposition to build an ultra-thin foil of pure silicon, layer by layer. Silicon is cheap and effective in anodes, but pure silicon expands and contracts as a battery is used and recharged, which causes it to crack. LeydenJar says its foil resists cracking and allows increases in battery life, charging speed and energy density of up to 50%.
Christian Rood, chief executive of LeydenJar, says the foil remains stable where a pure silicon anode would normally fall apart, calling it “a very wonderful invention”. “We address the bottleneck in the battery,” Rood says.
Commercial production starts at the end of 2026, 10 years after the work began. LeydenJar’s factory sits in Eindhoven, home to chip-equipment maker ASML. Rood says the crossover from semiconductors to batteries is a source of competitive advantage for the company, and that securing intellectual property this way is harder in the US or China.
What does Powall’s nanocoating do?
Powall is developing commercial-scale equipment to nanocoate the powders that are the raw materials of today’s batteries. Individual powder granules are measured in micrometres, while the coatings are measured in nanometres, one-billionth of a metre, and are applied using atomic layer deposition.
Roderik Colen, chief executive of Powall, says a nanocoating can slow the degradation that reduces a battery’s performance after thousands of uses. New materials offering higher capacity or fast charging typically excel on one measure but suffer on durability, he says. “That’s where we then come in, to give them the protective coating to effectively enable these new materials.”
Can Europe compete with China?
Neither LeydenJar nor Powall is trying to build an entire battery, and both have commercial relationships with customers in Asia. Alexander Brown, a senior analyst at the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics), says having one part of the supply chain based in Europe is valuable, particularly if it is a very advanced technological part offering high margins. He cautions that China is working hard to develop local alternatives, including efforts to replace ASML.
Why is fundraising difficult in Europe?
Rood says there is sufficient financing in Europe, but that the risk attitude differs from Asia and the US, so LeydenJar has to work with several sources of funding at once: government grants, debt financing, help from the European Investment Bank and investors buying a share of the business. Colen says Europe and the Netherlands in particular are an “innovation powerhouse”, and that a young industry still searching for the right technology leaves room to play a big role, because the volumes are huge.
Frequently asked questions
Which European battery companies have gone bankrupt?
Sweden’s Northvolt and Norway’s Morrow have both filed for bankruptcy, according to the BBC.
When will LeydenJar start commercial production?
LeydenJar says commercial-scale production of its silicon anode will start at the end of 2026, after 10 years of development.
What is a nanometre?
A nanometre is one-billionth of a metre, the scale at which Powall applies coatings to battery powders.
What does Powall make?
Powall, a start-up in the Dutch city of Delft, is developing commercial-scale equipment to nanocoate the powders used as raw materials in batteries.
With reporting from BBC News.
Stock image, not from the events described. Battery researcher — Altynay N Zhumabekova / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)