The Finnish company Grafintec Oy and Epsilon Advanced Materials from India, which have reserved land in the GigaVaasa area, have announced in a stock exchange release that they are dissolving their mutual cooperation agreement. However, the City of Vaasa will continue negotiations with each company separately.

Grafintec Oy and Epsilon Advanced Materials reserved 38 hectares of land in the GigaVaasa area and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the City of Vaasa on the 11th of January 2022 to build a plant in Vaasa to produce anode materials for the battery industry. The stock exchange release on the 25th of August announces the termination of the cooperation agreement between the companies.

“Neither operator has withdrawn from the project, and discussions continue on both the development of the GigaVaasa area and the construction of a battery value chain,” says Mayor Tomas Häyry.

The GigaVaasa team is also currently engaged in several other discussions on plot reservations in the GigaVaasa area.

“Demand for land in the area is strong and the battery industry is a rapidly growing sector. That is why we remain convinced that we will get excellent players operating in the GigaVaasa area. We feel very positive about the future,” continues Häyry, Head of the GigaVaasa team.

GigaVaasa Area Timeline:

• April 2021: First reservation for the GigaVaasa area: Johnson Matthey selected Vaasa as the location for a sustainable battery materials plant.

• August 2021: FREYR Battery selected Vaasa as the location of a battery cell plant; a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed for a 90-hectare plot.

• November 2021: Johnson Matthey announces the sale of its battery materials business. However, Vaasa continues negotiations with the company’s new owner.

• January 2022: Grafintec Oy and Epsilon Advanced Materials sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Vaasa to build a plant to produce anode materials for the battery industry in the GigaVaasa area.

• January 2022: FREYR Battery’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) commences.

• May 2022: FREYR Battery and the City of Vaasa enter into a fixed-term lease agreement for 130 hectares of land.