Much of the Nordics froze last week, with temperatures below -10°C in many places. On 11 December, the price of electricity on the Nordpool power exchange in eastern Norway, southern Norway and western Norway was NOK 3.37 per kWh. In northern Norway, it was NOK 1.50. On 12 December, the average price in northern Norway reached a record high of NOK 2.53 per kWh. According to NTB, the highest price landed at NOK 4.14. In Sweden, prices were even higher, and in the south averaged SEK 4.79 per kWh. Meteorologists say that the cold weather will continue into next week and that the wind will be weak, which means that electricity prices will remain high and could rise further in the coming days.
Analysis from the Danish Institute of Technology shows that there has been a significant increase in patents for the practical use of the new green energy technology Power-to-X, which converts green electricity from wind turbines and solar cells into green fuels such as hydrogen, jet fuel, methanol, e-diesel and more. The analysis covers more than 30,000 currently important patents in the field. According to the analysis, private western companies dominate the innovation and commercialisation of new green energy technologies in PtX. At the same time, however, the number of new patents in China is rising sharply. Here, it is the research institutes that are behind the technological developments.
Eviny's subsidiary Plug will build onshore power abroad for the first time. The partnership will be ready within a year in the port city of Montrose, an hour's drive south of Aberdeen, and Plug, together with the local port of Montrose, will be responsible for an investment of NOK 12 million, which will open the door to greener shipping in the UK. The Scottish Minister for Net Zero Emissions, Energy and Transport, Michael Matheson, praised the partnership. He said the partnership between Plug and the Port of Montrose is a major initiative that will help the shipping industry, as well as the oil, gas and offshore wind industries, to reduce emissions from their work.
The energy company St1 has in recent days purchased approximately 14% of the shares of Scandinavian Biogas, making it the second largest owner through this acquisition. St1 has 1,300 St1 and Shell petrol stations in Finland, Sweden and Norway.
The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we curate the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. Mundus Nordic Green Indices summarise the meta-data from our daily coverage to enable easy tracking of trends. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary.