Work has got under way to build Europe’s biggest factory for electric car batteries in northern Sweden, and the company is now looking for temporary homes for 1,000 building workers.

Startup Northvolt announced last year that they had selected Skellefteå, a coastal town in Sweden’s industrial north-east, for the site which will rival Tesla’s American ‘Gigafactory’.

Construction is currently under way and is set to be stepped up further this summer. As many as around 1,000 construction workers are expected to be employed during the peak building phase.

Normally home to around 72,000 people, Skellefteå’s council-owned property agency Skebo is currently hard at work trying to find temporary homes for all those involved in the construction.

“It is extensive work, which requires all parties to help out. But I’m not worried,” Northvolt communication boss Jesper Wigard told regional northern Swedish newspaper Norran.

Northvolt’s factory will be aimed not only at electric cars and other vehicles, but also at renewable energy producers looking for electricity storage, as well as industrial companies.

It is expected to raise production progressively between 2020 and 2023. Once fully operational, the site is to produce lithium-ion batteries totalling 32 Gigawatt hours (GWh) per year.

The factory came in response to Tesla founder Elon Musk’s ‘Gigafactory’ in the US state of Nevada where production debuted in January last year.