PRESS RELEASE: The Norwegian-Canadian energy storage solutions provider Corvus Energy strengthens its position in Norway and announces plans to build a battery factory in the Bergen area. The reason for the establishment is strong growth in the Norwegian market as a result of new ferry tenders with strict environmental requirements and high demand for hybrid energy systems in the offshore and shipping sectors.
“There is an electric revolution going on in the maritime sector, and Norway is at the center of development. We want to deliver the best solutions in the industry, and this factory will enable us to quickly test and develop new systems that can meet the future needs of the industry,” says Geir Bjoerkeli, CEO of Corvus Energy.
The market for maritime batteries has seen strong growth in recent years, and Corvus Energy is one of the dominant suppliers in the market. The company currently has its head office, production and development facilities in Vancouver, but most of its sales, service and marketing activities are located in Bergen.
Strengthens the maritime cluster
The new battery factory will be more modern and more automated than other similar factories.
“By switching from manual processing to automated production, we will quadruple our capacity. More efficient production also makes us much more competitive against low-cost countries,” says Bjoerkeli.
The NCE Maritime CleanTech industry cluster, of which Corvus Energy is a partner, is assisting with consultancy and project development in the planning phase. The initiative “Invest in Bergen” also contributes to the establishement.
“We have a strong maritime cluster in Western Norway, and this establishment will strengthen our position as a global hub within maritime environmental technology. With a battery factory in the Bergen area the industry will have close access to core products that are vital to ensuring that shipping is more environmentally friendly and more profitable for the ship owners,” says Hege Oekland, CEO of NCE Maritime CleanTech.
Along with the new factory, Corvus Energy also intends to establish an R&D environment for battery technology in Norway and in Canada.
“It will be natural for us to link our R&D activities with other relevant R&D institutions. In this way we can strengthen the cooperation between industry actors and research institutions, which will be beneficial to both parties,” says Bjørkeli.
Corvus Energy was established in Canada in 2009, and the Norwegian part of the business, Corvus Norway, was established in 2015. The company develops and sells specially designed battery storage solutions for the maritime and oil and gas sectors and is a world-leading supplier of batteries for ships.
In recent years, Corvus Energy has become more and more Norwegian, and Equinor, BW Group and Hydro now control around 70 per cent of the shares.
