1 March 2022

Europe to become less dependent on Russian energy - green stocks are rising

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to a fundamental change in Europe’s energy supply. According to Danish Minister of Climate and Energy, Dan Jørgensen, there is a broad agreement that the EU countries must get rid of Russian energy by accelerating the green transition. As a result, European industrial companies with both feet in renewable energy have witnessed an increase in their shares since the war broke out. 

Renewable companies such as Vestas, Ørsted, Nordex and OX2 are rising. Vestas and Nordex, which are two of the largest suppliers of wind energy to Germany, rose the most on 28 February - up 14.5% and 17.5% respectively. Since opening on 24 February, Vestas has gone up 42% and Ørsted 36%. In addition, Swedish OX2 is up 21.4% and Norwegian Scatec has gone up over 18%. A number of other renewable stocks are also rising across Europe. 

Avisen Danmark , E24 , DN Investor , Aksjelive

The Nordic political reaction to latest IPCC report 

Swedish Minister of the Environment and Climate, Annika Strandhäll (S), commented that she takes the latest report from the UN’s climate panel IPCC seriously. However, despite the fact that Sweden only reaches halfway to climate goals that are in themselves insufficient, and misses 15 out of 16 environmental goals, she is proud of the Swedish Government’s policy. At the same time, Finnish Minister for the Environment and Climate, Emma Kari, noted that the IPCC’s message is extremely serious and announced immediate action as Finland now faces winter floods and extinctions. According to Kari, the climate goals cannot be reversed due to the war in Ukraine, but must be adhered to even more strictly. 

Mathilde Tybring-Gjedde, member of the energy and environment committee in the Norwegian Storting, said that it is urgent to get the Government’s new climate plan on the table. “It is a short time until 2030. People and companies that are to implement large emissions cuts must know what climate policy they must comply with”, Tybring-Gjedde continued. 

See the BBC summary in "What we're reading" for details.

DN , Finanswatch , HS

Sweden no longer at forefront of taxing harmful environmental activities

Although Sweden was early in taxing environmentally harmful activities, since the mid-1990s, environmental taxes as a share of GDP have decreased, resulting in Sweden now placing in the middle bracket among OECD countries, the Swedish National Institute of Economic Research writes in an analysis. On the other hand, environmental taxes in relation to domestic emissions have increased, and Sweden places higher than both the average among the OECD and EU countries - notably though, if the environmental tax ratio is calculated in this way, emissions from goods manufactured abroad are excluded.

The National Institute of Economic Research

Municipalities must say no to wind power earlier; Swedish Government proposes

The Swedish Government recently proposed that municipalities that want to veto new wind power projects must do so earlier than they do today. According to the Government, the proposal will make the process for permits for wind power more predictable, among other things, by a municipality not being able to say stop at a late age. It further estimates that it will be clearer for those involved what applies and that it saves energy and time for companies that want to build new wind power, for authorities that will review applications and municipalities. 

“The resistance is not completely off because wind power disturbs, but in a larger context, the energy transition and tens of thousands of jobs are at stake”, Minister of Trade and Industry, Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, commented on the resistance for wind power. 

Dagens Samhälle , Swedish Radio 

Soaring gas prices trigger extreme electricity price differences within Sweden

The dramatic rise in natural gas prices, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is contributing to skyrocketing electricity prices in Southern Sweden. However, in the northern half of the country, electricity spot prices are only 10% of the level in the south. 

Di

Sky-high electricity prices impacting companies’ 4Q21 reports. 

Bonheur’s recently published 4Q21 report shows a significant improvement from 4Q20, with an operating profit of NOK 1.1 billion, up from NOK 206 million. At the same time, Norwegian company Quantafuel manages to end 2021 with a positive result on its bottom line, despite having had to throw more money at operating costs and ending 2020 with a three-digit million deficit. However, Sweden’s Nilar’s 4Q21 report presents a different outcome with an estimated operating loss of SEK 270 million.

Di , Energiwatch , Aksjelive , Di

Nordic Hydrogen Partnership receives funding from Nordic Innovation

NHP recently announced that the company has been granted funding from Nordic Innovation, a Nordic organisation that works to promote cooperation on trade and innovation across the Nordic countries. From the beginning of 2022, Nordic Innovation has granted NHP and partners’ funds to continue the expansion of their activities for heavy hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure through Next Wave projects. 

DN Investor

OX2 sells 32 MW wind farm in Uppvidinge municipality outside Växjö

OX2 has signed an agreement to sell the Marhult wind farm outside Växjö to Octopus Renewables. The wind farm will have an installed capacity of 32 MW. Construction of the wind farm, which consists of 7 wind turbines, will begin during spring 2022 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. OX2 has developed the project since 2019. 

Of

Bring invests in fast chargers and standard electric car chargers

Bring is a division of Norway’s postal service. New investment, made possible by a grant from Klimatklivet in Sweden, means that more deliveries in and between Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Jönköping can be made with electric vehicles. In total, there are 58 charging points, of which 12 are fast chargers. Bring aims to be fossil-free in Sweden by 2025, and by installing these new charging points, Bring expects to save thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. The charging stations are estimated to be put into operation during summer 2022. 

IT sustainability

Solar cells worth EUR 200 million to be built in Poland

Better Energy and Danish pension fund, Industriens Pension have expanded their partnership to make it easier to build up to +300 MWh of clean, sustainable energy and grid connection in Poland. The Polish expansion comes in the wake of a historic collaboration that was entered into in 2020 between the two parties, where they each own an equal share in more than 1 GWh solar parks that are developed, built and operated by Better Energy in Denmark and Poland. The expansion means that the partnership’s financial commitment is likely to exceed DKK 670 million. The solar parks are expected to be put into operation by the end of 2022. 

Energiforum Danmark

What we’re reading

• Climate change: IPCC report warns of ‘irreversible’ impacts of global warming (BBC)
• Forrest mulls massive 2GWh battery as part of Queensland wind and solar hub (RenewEconomy)
• Fortescue starts building hydrogen electrolyser plant that will double global production (RenewEconomy)
• BP and Shell’s Russian exits put pressure on peers to follow suit (Financial Times)

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