Anglo-Swiss commodity giant Glencore and Norwegian battery start-up FREYR announced Monday a supply contract for cobalt products, along with a strategic partnership that may include other battery materials.

Glencore will supply FREYR with up to 1,500 tonnes of high-grade, sustainably sourced cobalt metal cut cathodes made from partially recycled cobalt produced at Glencore’s Nikkelverk facility in Norway through to 2028. The contract follows a letter of intent signed in February. A FREYR spokesperson told Kallanish the companies won’t disclose details such as the start of the contract, nor its pricing terms.

The agreement may also cover the supply of nickel to FREYR and the supply of recycling scrap from nickel-cobalt-manganese cells to be produced by FREYR in Mo i Rana, Norway. Another area of potential collaboration relates to material recycling and processing of battery scrap, including the introduction of recycling certificates to document the delivery of recycled material, they say.

The partners plan to work on ways to minimise their carbon footprint and “define actions and milestones” to meet the ambition of 100% carbon neutral material, including the potential use of carbon offset schemes.

FREYR’s ceo Tom Einar Jensen notes the agreement will support the growth of the local sustainable battery value chain in Norway, with the supply of recycled and traceable cobalt refined by Glencore in the country.

“The next natural step is to jointly seek to 100% decarbonise the supply of cobalt and other battery materials to support our sustainable production of clean, low-cost and low-carbon battery cells,” he adds.

The battery manufacturer has established a supplier code of conduct with sustainability expectations. It plans to develop up to 43 gigawatt-hours of battery cell production capacity by 2025. This should increase to 83 GWh by 2028, making the company one of Europe’s largest battery cell suppliers, it claims. Five of FREYR’s facilities are planned to be in the Mo i Rana industrial complex in Northern Norway.

“Glencore supports FREYR’s goal of producing batteries with the world’s lowest lifecycle carbon footprint and contributing to our ambition of net-zero total emissions by 2050,” comments Jyothish George, head of metals marketing at Glencore.