Latest news with #Northvolt
LeMonde
an hour ago
- Business
- LeMonde
In Sweden, Europe's first decarbonized steel mill rises, stirring hope and doubt
The flurry of construction cranes is visible from far along the road, piercing the forest of birch and pine trees. On site, construction vehicles crisscross dirt tracks stretching several hundred meters, raising dust as they transport rubble and materials. Welcome to Boden, in Sweden's far north, at the location of the future "green" steel mill by the Stegra group. This town of nearly 30,000 inhabitants is a 10-hour drive from Stockholm and 80 kilometers from the Arctic Circle. Lacking major tourist attractions, according to travel guides, it is mainly known for its military fort, one of the last in Lapland, active during both world wars and closed in the 2000s. It may soon be famous for its steel mill, located on the outskirts of the city, the first to be built from scratch on the European continent in half a century. Founded in 2020, the start-up H2 Green Steel launched construction at Boden two years later. In 2024, it adopted a new name, Stegra – which means "to raise" in Swedish – as a symbol of its project's rise. The industrial stakes are high: If it works out, Boden's steel mill could become a showcase for a successful energy transition in European steelmaking; if it fails, it may be remembered as another Swedish industrial mirage after the collapse of electric battery manufacturer Northvolt in March, the largest bankruptcy in the country's economic history.
Local Sweden
12-06-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
Can Sweden's green industry dream be kept alive after Northvolt failure?
The rise and fall of battery maker Northvolt led to fears over several Swedish green industry projects, but can startup steelmaker Stegra confound the doubters? Advertisement Just outside the town of Boden in Sweden's far north a massive worksite is teeming with activity. The metal skeletons rising out of the ground hint at the brand new mill which will produce steel using technology that the company says gives off 95 percent less CO2 emissions than traditional methods. "Right now, we got the pole position," Denis Hennessy, Stegra's vice president for steel, said during a site tour. "We're in a very unique position to do some things first in the industry," Hennessy said as he described the benefits of building a completely new plant. Among heavy industries, iron and steel production is the number one CO2 emitter, according to the International Energy Agency. The traditional process gives off nearly two tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of steel made. Hydrogen The iron ore that comes out of a mine is usually rich in oxides, chemical compounds made up of iron and oxygen, and this oxygen has to be removed – usually by heating it with coke in a blast furnace – which is when most of the CO2 is released. Stegra will remove the oxygen by circulating heated hydrogen gas which binds the oxygen – creating water as a byproduct The hydrogen is also to be produced on site at an electrolyser plant powered by renewable energy. Advertisement Access to cheap renewable energy, such as hydro power in Sweden's north, is key to Stegra's business model, according to CEO Henrik Henriksson. He told a group of investors and reporters that most established European steel firms are paying three times as much for their electricity. "That gives us a relatively huge cost advantage," he added. While traditional steelmaking is still cheaper, Stegra thinks it will benefit by being able to charge a premium for "green" steel. When the company first announced plans for a new plant in 2021, it was called H2 Green Steel and had an ambitious target of starting production in 2024. It also aimed for annual output of five million tonnes of steel – more than all of Sweden's current annual output – by 2030. Northvolt's shadow It is now targeting to turn on the mills in the second half of 2026, with an initial capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of steel per year, which they hope to eventually double. This is a still a drop in the ocean compared to the near 1.9 billion tonnes of steel shipped worldwide in 2024, according to the World Steel Association. Behind Stegra is investment firm Vargas Holding, which was also a co-founder of battery maker Northvolt. Advertisement Northvolt was seen as a cornerstone in European efforts to catch up with Chinese battery producers before production delays and a debt mountain led it to declare bankruptcy in March. As Northvolt was seen as a leader in a green industrial boom in Sweden, its demise has dampened optimism. A review by Dagens Arbete, a magazine published by three labour unions, found that 20 out 30 "green industrial projects" in Sweden were either delayed or had been cancelled. Stegra also has detractors. Magnus Henrekson, a professor at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), told AFP that the first problem with the startup was the inland location without the infrastructure to transport large amounts of steel to nearby ports. "And this is to be done by a startup, without previous experience of steel production," Henrekson said, adding that he thought that given Stegra's massive power needs, it was over optimistic to think electricity prices would remain competitive. No Chinese competitor Henrekson also noted that there are signs that the wider steel industry has lost faith in hydrogen reduced iron, highlighting ArcelorMittal's announcement in November that it was holding off decisions on several direct reduction plants – citing both market and technology concerns. Despite the challenges, Stegra's Henriksson stressed that the company was "different" from Northvolt. "We are a different team. We are a different setup," he said, adding that there was "no green steel business" in China to provide competition. Henriksson also said that a key difference was also steel as a product was much different from battery packs for vehicles – which require customers to adapt software, technology and design. Producers who want to reduce their carbon footprint can simply use Stegra's steel, he said. "On Monday ... you can run brown steel. And on Tuesday, you can run green."
France 24
11-06-2025
- Business
- France 24
Steel startup aims to keep Sweden's green industry dream alive
Just outside the town of Boden in Sweden's far north a massive worksite is teeming with activity. The metal skeletons rising out of the ground hint at the brand new mill which will produce steel using technology that the company says gives off 95 percent less CO2 emissions than traditional methods. "Right now, we got the pole position," Denis Hennessy, Stegra's vice president for steel, said during a site tour. "We're in a very unique position to do some things first in the industry," Hennessy said as he described the benefits of building a completely new plant. Among heavy industries, iron and steel production is the number one CO2 emitter, according to the International Energy Agency. The traditional process gives off nearly two tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of steel made. Hydrogen The iron ore that comes out of a mine is usually rich in oxides, chemical compounds made up of iron and oxygen, and this oxygen has to be removed -- usually by heating it with coke in a blast furnace -- which is when most of the CO2 is released. Stegra will remove the oxygen by circulating heated hydrogen gas which binds the oxygen -- creating water as a byproduct The hydrogen is also to be produced on site at an electrolyzer plant powered by renewable energy. Access to cheap renewable energy, such as hydro power in Sweden's north, is key to Stegra's business model, according to CEO Henrik Henriksson. He told a group of investors and reporters that most established European steel firms are paying three times as much for their electricity. "That gives us a relatively huge cost advantage," he added. While traditional steelmaking is still cheaper, Stegra thinks it will benefit by being able to charge a premium for "green" steel. When the company first announced plans for a new plant in 2021, it was called H2 Green Steel and had an ambitious target of starting production in 2024. It also aimed for annual output of five million tonnes of steel -- more than all of Sweden's current annual output -- by 2030. Northvolt's shadow It is now targeting to turn on the mills in the second half of 2026, with an initial capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of steel per year, which they hope to eventually double. This is a still a drop in the ocean compared to the near 1.9 billion tonnes of steel shipped worldwide in 2024, according to the World Steel Association. Behind Stegra is investment firm Vargas Holding, which was also a co-founder of battery maker Northvolt. Northvolt was seen as a cornerstone in European efforts to catch up with Chinese battery producers before production delays and a debt mountain led it to declare bankruptcy in March. As Northvolt was seen as a leader in a green industrial boom in Sweden, its demise has dampened optimism. A review by Dagens Arbete, a magazine published by three labour unions, found that 20 out 30 "green industrial projects" in Sweden were either delayed or had been cancelled. Stegra also has detractors. Magnus Henrekson, a professor at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), told AFP that the first problem with the startup was the inland location without the infrastructure to transport large amounts of steel to nearby ports. "And this is to be done by a startup, without previous experience of steel production," Henrekson said, adding that he thought that given Stegra's massive power needs, it was over optimistic to think electricity prices would remain competitive. No Chinese competitor Henrekson also noted that there are signs that the wider steel industry has lost faith in hydrogen reduced iron, highlighting ArcelorMittal's announcement in November that it was holding off decisions on several direct reduction plants -- citing both market and technology concerns. Despite the challenges, Stegra's Henriksson stressed that the company was "different" from Northvolt. "We are a different team. We are a different setup," he said, adding that there was "no green steel business" in China to provide competition. Henriksson also said that a key difference was also steel as a product was much different from battery packs for vehicles -- which require customers to adapt software, technology and design. Producers who want to reduce their carbon footprint can simply use Stegra's steel, he said. © 2025 AFP
Man of Many
09-06-2025
- Automotive
- Man of Many
Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster Production Ends Soon, But What's Going to Replace it?
By Somnath Chatterjee - News Published: 9 June 2025 |Last Updated: 6 June 2025 Share Copy Link Readtime: 3 min Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here. 718 Cayman and Boxster production winds down in October 2025 Electric replacements delayed to a possible 2027 launch because of Northvolt bankruptcy Production stopped in Australia in 2024 It was inevitable, but the popular and revered 718 Cayman and Boxster sports cars will bow out globally towards the end of this year. Despite being around for a decade, the 718 models have been going strong in terms of worldwide sales demand, while the hardcore RS models have reached nearly the same iconic status as the limelight-grabbing 911 RS models. Porsche has confirmed the party will end, indicating that both models will be discontinued by October, with the last few examples being sold now. Currently, only a few cars are available worldwide, as Porsche has even pulled the 718 twins from the European markets. Meanwhile, here in Australia, orders have been stopped since late last year, alongside the petrol Macan. Production for our market was stopped from September 2024, with perhaps North America being the only market where the cars are still on sale. Of course, this news is not surprising since the 718 Models are making way for their electric successors, but the question is when. According to new reports, the launch of the all-new electric Cayman and Boxster is not happening anytime soon. Porsche 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 | Image: Porsche Australia While CEO Oliver Blume has said they will arrive in the 'medium term,' the electric sports cars have been delayed due to various issues. Northvolt, the Swedish battery company partly owned by Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs, recently filed for bankruptcy. Hence, Porsche has been having issues in procuring the high-performance cells for these EVs, and that has further pushed back the launch time. 'The world has changed,' said Porsche CEO, Dr Oliver Blume. 'We are experiencing a fierce storm. But we are doing everything we can to counteract them. We are resolutely investing in the future. In challenging times we are continuing to develop Porsche with a precise focus. This requires more resources in the short term, but it will make our company even more profitable in the long term. We accept the challenge. We have a plan. We are acting. And we're not wasting any time.' It seems the 718 Cayman and Boxster will not be immediately replaced, and even the new electric three-row SUV that has been spotted testing would be delayed too. Porsche has been bullish regarding its EV strategy but has scaled back its EV-only plans, despite some success in global markets like Australia. Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 | Image: Porsche Australia Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 | Image: Porsche Australia Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 | Image: Porsche Australia Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 | Image: Porsche Australia Recently, the brand has put some focus back into developing internal combustion engine models. Which means that the future electric 718 replacements would be prepped for a petrol version, potentially plug-in hybrid variants with similar powertrains to those of their Volkswagen brothers and sisters. Porsche has said that it will develop combustion engine or PHEV versions of its EVs, and that could include the new electric Macan and possibly sports cars like the Boxster and Cayman. The EV market has cooled down, it remains to be seen how Porsche navigates through this, but for now, there would be a large time gap between the current 718 models being canned and their successors arriving on the market if they continue down the all-electric 718 Cayman and Boxster route.
Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
The Missing Engineers
Green | The Big Take The world's need for power is outstripping the workforce that can build it. Aging populations and anti-immigration rhetoric aren't helping. By , Olivia Rudgard and Josh Saul Swedish battery startup Northvolt AB's bankruptcy filing was preceded by a number of debilitating events: failing to fulfill its contracts with customers; pleas to investors for more cash; ghosting its creditors. But its downfall began with a problem many companies are facing today. There was a severe, years-long struggle to find enough workers with the right skills. Peter Breuer, who oversaw new factory planning at Northvolt until 2023, says that the startup's ambitions grew faster than its workforce. 'That contributed to its failure,' says Breuer, who is now chief of staff at Peak Energy, another battery startup. Northvolt wanted to be Europe's first homegrown lithium-ion battery giant, raising more than $13 billion. And for a while, it seemed like it might succeed. As recently as late 2023, the company was planning to go public with a market valuation of more than $20 billion. The fall came less than a year later. Northvolt failed to make enough batteries, which led to BMW canceling a contract worth €2 billion ($2.3 billion). When investors didn't step in, the company filed for bankruptcy in the US in November 2024 and in Sweden in March of this year. Many of these facilities needed staff with sophisticated knowhow to use complex, high-risk production lines typically bought from China and South Korea. Europe's aging workforce couldn't provide them, and bringing in enough experienced workers from battery giants in Asia proved to be a challenge the company couldn't overcome. 'The Northvolt fiasco is a classic example of a great idea in concept, but it falls over on the availability of labor,' said Bas Sudmeijer, managing director at Boston Consulting Group and part of its climate and sustainability practice. Northvolt declined to comment. A shortage of skilled workers, especially engineers, is a growing problem in developed countries. How do you get more labor? 'You either birth them or you import them,' says Zeke Hernandez, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 'But in an environment of declining birth rates, increasing retirements and now a restrictive immigration regime, shortages become quite severe.' The US is already unable to fill about a third of its more than 400,000 new engineer roles created each year. The UK will see 20% of its engineers retire by 2030 — leaving a shortfall of 1 million jobs. Japan will see a deficit of 700,000 in that period. These can have big impacts on the economy. In Britain, the shortage of engineers could wipe 5% from its gross domestic product, according to the think tank Stonehaven. In the US, the lack of skilled workers will hold back President Donald Trump's attempts to increase manufacturing, even if the tariff regime stabilizes and businesses get ready to invest. Trump's attacks on US universities' international students, who tend to study engineering in a greater proportion than domestic students, will likely further sap the supply of skilled workers. When it doesn't bankrupt a company or halt a project, skilled worker shortages lead to higher costs and longer timelines to build much-needed infrastructure, such as electricity grids. This is a problem for the US and Europe, which are seeing a surge in demand for power thanks to electric cars, heat pumps and massive data centers. The US utility Xcel Energy Inc. estimates its labor costs have risen 50% in the past five years, outpacing inflation. There's also a growing urgency to electrify because it's a major strategy in fighting climate change. The world recorded its hottest year in 2024 and, on the current trajectory, it's only years away from blowing past the climate targets set under the Paris Agreement. The quickest way to get back on track is to electrify as much of the global energy system as possible while simultaneously decarbonizing electricity. The severe shortage of skilled workers is slowing progress towards electrifying everything. Some data center builders in the US are delaying new work, while others are having to plan projects two years in advance instead of six months. Utilities in the UK are struggling to keep up with customer demand for solar panels and EV chargers, while German heat pump customers are having to wait twice as long as French ones. The problem is expected to get worse. 'The demand for future engineers far outstrips the supply,' says Steve Lefton, executive chairman of engineering firm Kimley-Horn, which designs electrical infrastructure. 'The workforce shortage has the potential to be an existential threat to our industry.' Electrification is a more recent vocation than one might think. It was tinkerers, hobbyists and inventors who built the first electric grid in the late 19th century. There was little formal training and people mostly learned on the job. Among those first grids was the one that Thomas Edison built in New York City in 1882 with the help of people receiving workmen's wages whom he called ' muckers.' The grid powered light bulbs fueled by a coal-fired generator. During the 1950s and 1960s, the US and Europe saw rapid growth in industrialization and the size of the population, which also meant rising demand for electricity and a skilled workforce. It's the kind of trajectory that countries like India and China are experiencing in the 21st century. India doesn't have a shortage of engineers, but its troubles are more to do with the quality of education. Technology and regulations for the sector are changing very fast. 'We don't put them on the job on day one,' says Jai Prakash Shivahare, managing director of Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd., a state-run utility. 'They undertake training for 45 days in the office and on the ground.' In China, grid operators are in the enviable position of choosing among a growing horde of young engineers. Many of those who lost jobs in the tech industry in the past few years are suddenly keen for secure employment at state-owned utilities, known as 'iron rice bowls.' Even if the jobs aren't flashy or high-paying, they're secure and offer strong benefits. Manufacturing Jobs are on the Rise in India and China Share of people employed in mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction and public utilities State Grid Corp. of China, which distributes power across more than 80% of the country, received about 406,000 applications during its 2024 recruitment efforts that ultimately ended with about 26,000 hires, according to financial news provider China's utilities are also benefiting from a decades-long push in science education. The number of engineers in the nation more than tripled from 2000 to 2020 to 17.7 million, according to the State Council, and many are young. Engineers under the age of 30 account for 44% of the total pool, compared with 20% in the US, according to data compiled by Kaiyuan Securities. While Asia was booming, electricity demand in the US and Europe remained largely flat or even declined alongside deindustrialization over the past three decades. That saw the industry shed jobs, as people moved to services roles instead. That's starting to change as more and more economies — including rich ones — are getting electrified, creating a boom for those industries. But they can only be realized if they can find the workers. The skilled workforce needed for electrification is wide ranging. Today it's not just power-systems engineers and battery scientists with advanced degrees; it's also concrete pourers and electricians. These workers are key to not just manufacturing, but also to building housing and other kinds of desperately needed infrastructure. The shortage is more severe for engineering roles, which typically need years of study to understand advanced physics, industrial design and complex systems. But ramping up the domestic supply for most types of skilled roles is proving difficult. Attempts across Western economies to try to boost birth rates have shown little success. 'Given the demographic reality, immigration is the most viable solution to the shortage of workers, both in the short term and in the long run,' says Hernandez of Wharton School of Business. That has been one route that electrification industries have taken. Data shows that immigrants make up big portions of green jobs, from 8% of renewable energy workers in Spain to 26% in Australia, according to a report from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI). But the politics around immigration in rich countries has become toxic. 'Companies aren't talking about immigration policy now,' says Julia Gelatt, associate director at MPI. 'They are running away from the topic.' This problem shows up in a more acute way in the UK, which has rapidly shed its industrial past and where many people voted to exit the European Union primarily to slow down legal migration. Today, less than 10% of Britain's economic output comes from manufacturing. But the net zero emissions economy grew at three times the rate of the country's economy. That's why Prime Minister Keir Starmer now sees expanding green jobs as a central part of desperately needed faster economic growth, and that means developing a large portion of the supply chain on the British Isles. Spending Rises Across Regions for Electrification Industries Energy infrastructure investments, in billions of real 2023 dollars Indian conglomerate Tata Group, under a newly formed company called Agratas, is building an electric-vehicle battery plant in Somerset in southwest England. The batteries will power Tata-owned Jaguar and Land Rover cars and it will mean more than 4,000 new jobs. A second plant is being built by the Nissan Motor Co.-backed joint venture AESC in Sunderland in northeast England. Both facilities are expected to begin production in the early 2030s. Colin Herron, professor of practice at Newcastle University who is developing training for battery workers to staff these factories, says it's not at all clear where the employees will come from. 'Somerset is full of farmers,' says Herron. 'They haven't a clue what the automotive industry is like.' But with anti-immigration campaigns winning in elections, companies are being forced to get creative. One idea is to poach workers from other industries. Jonty Deeley-Williamson, head of learning at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), used to make croissants for a living. The battery-making process isn't all that different, he says. 'The machinery [to make pastry] is very similar.' UKBIC provides space for universities and companies to test their battery innovation. It's also a training ground to help workers new to the battery industry. Its staff of about 150 includes many who have switched over from food and drug manufacturing. They are familiar with the machinery and used to working on a factory floor. It's a learning curve, but less steep than you might think, says Deeley-Williamson. 'Instead of using flour or pharmaceuticals, you are now looking at handling a slightly more hazardous substance.' But the need for staff is so great that it has led to a rapid increase in training academies — many funded directly by companies — that are readying a new generation of workers for electricity-related jobs. A shortage of skilled people is the main thing holding up UK utility Octopus's ambitions to dominate the country's growing markets for solar panels, heat pumps and EV chargers, says John Szymik, chief executive officer of Octopus Energy Services. The company has long waiting lists of customers wanting low-carbon tech. Octopus needs 4,000 installers by 2030. It's hard to recruit engineers from abroad, so the company must train them itself. So far, only 36 have started the two-year course that will teach them to install those low-carbon devices at homes and businesses. It's not the only company seeking more skilled workers. The British government has launched a series of taxpayer-funded programs with the goal of training 18,000 installers as soon as the middle of next year. 'It's not that we don't have the technology or the hardware or solutions,' he says. 'It's just how quickly we can physically get people bought into the business [and] trained up.' In a small classroom wedged inside a cavernous warehouse in northern England's Rotherham, 11 Octopus apprentices each examine a radiator. The white, suitcase-sized, rectangular object is made of steel, and the piping inside it will transport hot water from an electrically powered heat pump, which will bring a room to a comfortable temperature without a fuel-burning furnace. The apprentices are learning how to hang one on the wall. Octopus Energy apprentices listen to a briefing at the company's training facility in Rotherham. The UK has more than 140,000 skilled workers qualified to install and maintain gas boilers and stoves, but fewer than 10,000 active heat pump installers. Photographer: Lorna MacKay/Bloomberg Apprentices hang radiators during a training exercise. Many gas installers will retire before they make the switch to heat pumps — half of those currently working are over the age of 55 — meaning new people need to be trained. Photographer: Lorna MacKay/Bloomberg Each apprentice has been given an array of shiny copper fixings, a toolbox and their own practice area the size of a restaurant booth. They learned the theory in a PowerPoint presentation in the morning, and now it's time to put it into practice. This group is in their fourth month of training; along with classroom time, they also will get on-the-job experience. 'It's not that we don't have the technology or the hardware or just how quickly we can physically get people bought into the business [and] trained up.' One of the apprentices, Ed Connor, 46, spent 26 years in the British Army, retiring as a sergeant managing training for weapons handling and battlefield skills. Connor's neighbor, an Octopus employee, told him that the company was recruiting for its low-carbon apprenticeship. The students range from teenagers to career-changers like Connor. Being part of a national effort to install heat pumps has offered Connor a new purpose. 'A lot of ex-servicemen do struggle to adjust,' says Connor. 'I've kind of embraced this Octopus identity,' he says, pointing to the bright pink Octopus logo on his shirt. Student Gracie Reed, 20, one of two women in the group, comes from a family well-versed in the practical trades – her grandfather spent his career working with gas boilers. Now she's pursuing the modern version of that same path. 'Hopefully, I can follow in his footsteps.' Photographer: Lorna MacKay/Bloomberg 'I'm passionate about the environment,' says Paul Phillips, 34, a former prison physical education instructor. He previously began training to install gas appliances but switched to the Octopus course after reading about it online. 'When you're installing the heat pump, you know you're doing a good cause, and it's really nice because at the end of it, you can see they're really grateful for what you've done.' Photographer: Lorna MacKay/Bloomberg Some companies are targeting the young. French power-distribution company Enedis has launched technology classes in 120 high schools and 40 universities. Those who are chosen for its training programs are offered 18-week internships. Daikin Industries Ltd, a gigantic heat-pump maker based in Japan, has doubled the number of training centers it operates across Europe in the last three years. Engineers Are in Short Supply in the US Alison Tripp, who leads recruiting at DPR Construction Inc., worries about the shortage of construction workers needed to build data centers. To build up the company's applicant pipeline, she sends recruiters to schools around the US so they can talk up the benefits of being a foreman, concrete worker or — especially right now — an electrician. 'The field positions are really hard,' she says. 'There's a labor shortage across the country. Everybody's talking about it. It keeps me up at night.' DPR Construction builds crucial infrastructure to support the AI boom and employs 11,000 across the world. But often the new power plants and massive data centers it's building are in remote locations, and the local workforces aren't sufficient. In those instances, DPR, like an increasing number of companies, will dispatch 'travelers,' workers who rent nearby hotel rooms or drive their own recreational vehicles (RVs) to live in near the worksite. Many utilities that build power lines for data centers also are having to pay more for skilled workers and then recoup those costs from ratepayers. Dominion Energy Inc., the utility that powers Virginia's Data Center Alley, asked regulators for permission to increase residential bills by about $10 per month over the next two years in part because of the high cost of labor. Clients want projects started and completed quickly but sometimes there just aren't enough workers available, says Joe Sczurko, the US region president at global engineering firm WSP, which designs solar, wind and gas power plants. In those cases, WSP has to work out a more realistic — and longer — deadline with the client. 'In an environment of declining birth rates, increasing retirements and now a restrictive immigration regime, shortages become quite severe.' Another solution is to employ refugees, some of whom have the right technical skills but may lack in language skills or have precarious housing situations. German utility SE, which has found it hard to recruit software engineers, says it attracts refugees for these roles by offering free language courses and legal support to secure stable accommodation. Smaller things also can make a difference. Perception can hold back candidates. Some people in the UK see engineering as dirty, a job where grease-laden mechanics toil in garages or on chaotic factory floors. Office jobs and university education have been prioritized over apprenticeships and trades, according to UKBIC's Deeley-Williamson. 'There does seem to be this bias against manual labor jobs,' he says. His pitch to recruits is that battery clean rooms are tidier than the most sensitive areas of hospitals. 'They're sometimes cleaner than operating theatres.' GE Vernova Inc. received very few female applicants for heavy duty plant engineering jobs at its electrical-equipment factory in Stafford, UK. Aiming to increase the applicant pool, the company started deleting the word 'heavy' in its marketing materials and added photos of women doing the job. As a result, a larger proportion of women started applying for hundreds of new jobs at the Stafford factory to produce transformers, a device necessary for the functioning of the grid. Highlighting the do-gooder factor of clean energy can also help. Samantha Betts, 37, used to work as a hairdresser in London. But a few years ago she began taking software classes, eventually receiving a job offer from the green British utility Ovo Energy Ltd. 'It aligns with my beliefs and things that I'm passionate about,' says Betts. She joined the startup two years ago, and now works on Ovo's app for customers. Her hairdressing skills were surprisingly transferable. 'You think of a software engineer, you think of the guy in the basement, tapping away,' says Betts. But she's hoping that being used to chatting with people and making them at ease sets her on a path to becoming a manager. 'I feel like I still use the same skills every day.' These domestic attempts are small but necessary. Because even if political opposition to immigration policies could be overcome, it's not easy to recruit people from abroad given electrification industries are on the upswing everywhere. Steve Doyle, chief executive officer of EVera Recruitment, specializes in UK-based electric car and battery companies. One of his tasks was to hire battery cell designers, mostly from Japan, South Korea and China, to bring to Britishvolt, the UK's answer to Northvolt. His team found 500 people in the world who could fill the jobs. They managed to hire a 'grand total of zero,' he says. Britishvolt filed for bankruptcy in 2023. Assists: Julia Janicki, Eva Brendel, Lou Del Bello, Francois de Beaupuy and Dan Murtaugh Editors: Emily Biuso, Aaron Rutkoff and Tim Quinson Design & Photo Editors: Somnath Bhatt and Jody Megson More On Bloomberg
