BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – Schleswig-Holstein’s Economics Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen (independent) and State Secretary Julia Carstens spoke with the Deputy Head of Cabinet of EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, Christiane Canenbley, about subsidy policy. “Here too, of course, everything revolved around the huge US subsidy program IRA and the European response to it,” said Carstens on Tuesday. At the meeting, Madsen made it clear how important the planned settlement of a battery factory by the Swedish energy company Northvolt in Heide is.
“We mainly described the economic development of our west coast,” said Carstens. Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) spoke to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday about Europe’s response to the US Inflation Reduction Act subsidy program worth billions.
Northvolt chose Heide (Dithmarschen district) as the European location for a battery cell factory for electric cars. But in the meantime, the US is enticing with much lower electricity prices and higher subsidies. This could delay the construction of the factory in Dithmarschen. A decision is expected in the foreseeable future. Should Northvolt build there, 3000 jobs and up to 4.5 billion euros in investments are foreseeable./akl/DP/mis
