12 January 2022
Mundus Nordic Green Indices show strong growth in 2021
Our indices, which are the only analysis that we know of their type, track the total level of green business development, dissecting this via country and technology type. Highlights for 2021 included;
- Across the Nordics, there was a 35% increase in activity over the year. Businesses are clearly responding to the threats and opportunities that they are perceiving about climate change.
- Much of this change in activity comes from Sweden, where there appears to be a boom in green innovation.
- The green sector with the most “hype” is hydrogen, which accounts for over 20% of reporting. However, many of the press releases made here are either small in scale, or speculative. Batteries are seeing significant investment and other emerging sectors such as EVs, CCS and PtX continued to move forward.
- December saw 7 new major projects announced. The most significant of these was Svenska kraftnät, the Swedish grid operator saying that it is planning for SEK 100 billion of investments in upgrading grid capacity over the next decade. A clear observation is the need for international collaboration in developing megaprojects. Two of the projects involved collaboration between Swedish and Iberian companies and another with a South Korean supplier of battery materials.
Ørsted announces plan to invest in Swedish energy project FlagshipONE
Ørsted plans to invest in the Swedish energy project FlagshipONE as a major player, initially taking an ownership of around 45% of FlagshipONE, with an option to increase this to 100% in the future. Ørsted’s goal is to develop their initial investment and the potential factory together with the Gothenburg based company Liquid Wind, in what may become the world's first large-scale facility for renewable e-methanol, located in the northern Swedish town of Örnsköldsvik.
According to Anders Nordstrøm, Head of Ørsted’s Hydrogen and Power-to-X operations - “By collaborating with Liquid Wind on FlagshipONE, we are embarking on one of the most promising and exciting projects: to deliver e-methanol on a large scale, promoting the phasing out of fossil fuels in shipping as well as other sectors … these are very concrete plans and if all goes well, the new facility in Örnsköldsvik could be the first of its kind in the world." The new plant is estimated to cost SEK 1.5 billion.
Nordic CEOs clamour for political initiative
An interview survey of 40 business leaders shows that Nordic CEOs are worried about climate change and favour a more ambitious approach to the problem. Recognising that the target is not something they can achieve on their own, the CEOs are calling on Nordic politicians to provide stronger incentives to develop and commercialise climate solutions more quickly.
Swedish Government to compensate homeowners for high electricity costs
Sweden’s Government announced today that it was to provide compensation to households based on their energy usage in the 3 winter months. The proposal affects over 1.8 million households and is expected to cost around SEK 6 billion.
Neste's completes first industrial-scale test run of liquefied waste plastics in Porvoo refinery
During this time, Neste has processed drop-in solutions from liquid plastic waste into plastic production and developed its ability to use recycled raw materials in industrial-scale processing. The work is completed as part of Neste’s strategy on a circular economy, with a goal to process more than one million tons of waste plastics annually from 2030 onwards.
European Energy enters cooperation on green aviation fuel
European Energy and the American company, Vertimass have signed a Letter of Intent to integrate technologies for capturing CO2 and convert it into hydrocarbon products for use in jet, diesel and petrol engines.
European Energy has already built a pilot plant in Aalborg together with Aalborg University, which produces e-methanol - and is in the process of developing large-scale PtX-facilities that use energy from solar and wind power to produce e-methanol. The first of the large plants will supply e-methanol to i.a. Maersk from the end of 2023. Vertimass technology for producing jet fuel and chemicals from methanol derived from CO2 offers ethanol producers, electrical power generation facilities, cement producers, and other sources of CO2 emissions the ability to reduce their greenhouse gas footprint.
TECO 2030 signs MoU with Gen2 Energy
TECO 2030 and Gen2 Energy have signed a MoU to cooperate on relevant projects where green hydrogen is needed for fuel cells. The parties commit to investigate supply of green hydrogen from Gen2 Energy for relevant projects where customers need hydrogen and power conversion through fuel cells either in ports, offshore fish farms or other heavy-duty customers. Further, Gen2 Energy will involve TECO 2030 Marine Fuel Cells in Gen2 Energy’s seaborn value chain, allowing hydrogen to be transported onboard vessels powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
Essity first in the world with large-scale production of tissue without fossil CO2 emissions
Essity, a Swedish hygiene and health company will be the first in the world to produce tissues at scale without fossil CO2 emissions. At its tissue factory in Lilla Edet, Essity will replace natural gas with biogas, eliminating fossil CO2 emissions during normal operations. The transition means that Edet mill's fossil CO2 emissions will be reduced by approximately 9,000 tonnes per year.
GKN Aerospace partners with the Swedish Energy Agency finances new competence centers
In December, the Swedish Energy Agency announced that eleven new competence centres would share SEK 600 million to accelerate the transition away from the fossil society and strengthen Sweden's competitiveness. GKN Aerospace is a partner in two of these; TechForH2, which is led by Chalmers University of Technology, which will focus on technologies and innovations for a future sustainable hydrogen economy, and CESTAP, which is led by Lund University of Technology and is a competence center for sustainable turbine fuels for aviation and power production.
What we’re reading
- Germany to speed up green energy projects in 'gigantic' effort (Channel News Asia)
- How The U.S. Is Losing The Lithium Industry To China (Forbes)
- ANIL to steer Adani Group's new energy business (The Economic Times)
- Ocean Grazer launches “infinitely scalable” ocean battery (RenewEconomy)
About Nordic Green News
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 clip 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.
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