15 September 2022
Sweden's chances of meeting the EU's climate targets at risk due to the Renewable Energy Directive
On 14 September, the European Parliament voted in favour of amending the Renewable Energy Directive, which would increase the share of renewable energy in the EU's final energy use to 45% by 2030. At the same time, the vote was to cap the use of forestry waste and classify it as a non-renewable resource. This could hinder Sweden's chances of meeting the EU's climate targets. The EU must phase out the use of branches, treetops and roots in order to go green with fuel. This means that the part of Swedish energy production that is now considered renewable will no longer be renewable and it will be more difficult for Sweden to meet the EU targets. This vote also means that access to sustainable and predictable district heating and electricity will be significantly reduced. It remains to be seen what the final directive will look like. The parliamentary proposal must now be negotiated with the Council of Ministers and the Commission until a common position is reached between the two parties.
Energy companies have reminded legislators that residues from forests, agriculture, parks or infrastructure projects should count as sustainable bioenergy in order to protect the climate and ensure that energy companies can continue to provide sustainable district heating and electricity. According to the IEA Bioenergy and the European Commission Research Agency (JRC), bioenergy plays an important role both in Sweden and the EU in achieving the climate targets. Many companies in the EU are planning large-scale climate investments based on residual forest products, such as advanced biofuels, fossil-free industries or biomass carbon dioxide storage. Mårten Larsson, the spokesperson for Skogsindustrierna, says that stopping the use of biomass will not help the climate or biodiversity and may also reduce the chances of managing forests in a sustainable way. Member states must strive for the right to use virgin forest biomass as part of a fossil-free and cost-efficient energy system. Meanwhile, Henrik Andersen, CEO of Denmark's Vestas, says that this crisis in Europe is due to an over-reliance on fossil fuels and that the long-term solution is to expand renewable energy sources. It is understandable that governments are stepping in with emergency measures, but this will only address the symptoms of the energy shock, not the root cause.
VIA, Energiföretagen, Di, Skogsindustrierna, ENERGIWATCH
String Megaregion receives EUR 12 million from the EU for cross-border network of 12 hydrogen filling stations for trucks and cars
The European Union Programme Connecting Europe Fund (CEF) has funded the hydrogen infrastructure project "GREATER4H". The main aim of the project is to enable heavy road transport to switch from diesel to hydrogen across borders to Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The new hydrogen infrastructure will make it possible to phase out diesel trucks from 2025 onwards and will also enable other hydrogen-powered vehicles to be refuelled online. On 14 September, STRING announced that the GREATER4H project has been funded with a EUR 12.4 million investment. Three private partners, GP Joule, Everfuel and Hynion, will build the hydrogen refuelling station between Hamburg and Oslo. In addition, Quantron, Ørsted and Renova have joined GREATER4H as partners, contributing a perspective on green hydrogen delivery, fuel cell technology and end-user perspectives for hydrogen vehicle operators. HYNION will build two hydrogen refuelling stations in Malmö and Gothenburg within the framework of the GREATER4H project. HYNION also plans to build a station in Oslo, which will mark the end of the corridor from Hamburg to Denmark and western Sweden to Norway.
Volvo starts mass production of heavy-duty electric trucks
The demand for electric trucks is growing rapidly in many markets. Volvo Trucks says its manufacturers are starting mass production of electric versions of the company's most important product lines, namely the heavy-duty trucks Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX. Volvo Trucks further writes that these trucks account for approximately two-thirds of the company's sales. Volvo is now increasing productivity and delivering the trucks to customers across Europe and eventually to customers in Asia, Australia and Latin America.
Norway to have the world's largest electrolytic cell
Norsk Hydrogen Pro is a provider of solutions for the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen from renewable energy sources. It has taken delivery of what is said to be the world's largest electrolyser at its test centre in Heroia. The electrolyser, manufactured at HydrogenPro's plant in Tianjin, China, arrived at Heroya's test facility on 10 September, marking a milestone in the company's history. The electrolyser is expected to produce 1100 Nm3/h of hydrogen at a typical current density of 100 kg per hour. The company says this is equivalent to 100 kg of pure hydrogen per hour and sets a new standard for the industry.
CIP sees the US as a global leader in renewable energy currently
With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the US government has set aside USD 369 billion for climate investments. This has made the US market more interested in green energy developers, as the US is likely to be a leader in the sector. In an analysis, the American Clean Energy Association calculated that the capacity of renewable energy will triple in the next ten years to 550 GW. Mads Skovgaard Andersen, partner at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners CIP, told Børsen that the US has always been a market of interest. CIP has a total project portfolio of 19 GW in the US and aims for the North American market to account for a third of the DKK 740 billion in assets under management by 2030.
Arla to meet climate targets with new wind farm
Eurowind Energy and Arla have signed a 10-year power agreement to ensure that the dairy giant achieves its goal of 100% green power in dairy products and production in Denmark by the end of 2025. The agreement will come into effect on 1 January 2025. Arla undertakes to retrieve the electricity from a subsidy-free wind farm at Nørre Økse Sø near Brovst in Jammerbugt Municipality, which will consist of 11 newly built wind turbines with an expected production of 137 GWh per year, which corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of 34,000 Danish households. The 11 wind turbines at the Nørre Økse Sø wind farm will be supplied by Vestas. In addition to the 137 GWh expected to be delivered to the grid from wind farms, Arla aims to provide renewable energy through solar cells, biogas engines and to purchase green electricity produced by several Arla farms in Denmark. Overall, Arla has already reduced its production emissions by 25% since 2015.
Three new deals and two partnerships for BatteryLoop
The startup BatteryLoop creates recycling solutions for an electrified society. Their BLESS™ energy storage system is made from recycled car batteries. Together with their self-developed digital service platform, they can, among other things, cut power peaks, store solar energy, support electric vehicle charging and generate revenue for their customers. BatteryLoop has now entered into three new deals and two collaborations. Firstly, BatteryLoop has signed an agreement with Ingrid Capacity to supply Karlshamns Energi with 2.8 MW of BLESS™ III. The energy storage will be located in the city of Karlshamns and will provide sustainable power, peak reduction and frequency maintenance services to the local grid. Secondly, power company Bixia has partnered with startup BatteryLoop on the BatteryLoop cyclic energy storage service to support the electricity market. This means that Bixia's commercial customers with their own solar cells can now store solar energy through reused car batteries. Thirdly, BatteryLoop instals reused car batteries at Stena Nordic Recycling in Halmstad to reuse and recycle them.
Svensk VERKSTAD, ENERGInyheter
SENS signs letter of intent with Veidekke and BayWa to build solar park in Filipstad
Sustainable Energy Solutions Sweden Holding (SENS) announced today that it has signed a letter of intent with Veidekke Entreprenad AB and BayWa r.e. Nordic AB. The parties will work together to assess the possibility of building a solar park in the Swedish municipality Filipstad with an estimated production capacity of approximately 20 MW. SENS will act as project owner and customer in the investment, and the parties will work together to install the facility next year. In addition to the solar park, the two parties will also assess further opportunities to work together on a number of projects in the region.
Vestas wins 43 MW order for wind project in New Zealand
Vestas, in partnership with Mercury, has been awarded a 43 MW order for the Kaiwera Downs wind farm in New Zealand. The project will be equipped with ten V136-4.2 MW wind turbines with an operating mode of 4.3 MW, which Vestas will supply and install. Upon completion, Vestas will provide a 30-year Active Output Management 5000 service and maintenance agreement (AOM5000) to optimise energy production, while providing Mercury with long-term business case certainty for the wind farm. Delivery of Vestas' wind turbines is expected in the second quarter of 2023, with commissioning to commence in the third quarter of 2023.
Monta receives capital injection from US funds, now valued at more than DKK 1 billion
After a DKK 223 million investment by the Chicago-based venture fund Energize, the Danish software company Monta is now valued at more than DKK 1 billion. The money will be used to expand the Danish charging software into six new markets, starting with Austria and the French market. Casper Rasmussen, co-founder and director of Monta, says the investment is a "huge opportunity" for the company, which has grown to 120 employees and a turnover of around DKK 1 million a month. The US venture fund says it sees an annual growth rate of around 34% in charging points in Europe by 2030, and they expect to invest USD 35 billion, around EUR 256 billion, in the deployment of global charging infrastructure by the same time. Monta addresses a really big challenge in the deployment of charging infrastructure, which is why they have received the investment.
Hexpol TPE launches thermoplastic elastomer from recycled plastic waste from the sea
In cooperation with Danish recycling company Plastix A/S, Hexpol TPE has launched thermoplastic elastomers containing recycled plastic scrap from the sea. The new grade, Dryflex Circular MWR, contains material from recycled offshore ropes. Partner Plasix specialises in the sorting and recycling of plastic fibre waste from the shipping industry and Plastix says that the consolidation of consumer plastic waste is important in the world's transition to a circular economy.
What we're reading
- EU takes unprecedented step with 5-10% cut in power demand and redistributing €142 billion in energy profits (Rystad Energy)
- EU vote exposes tensions over use of forests for fuel (Financial Times)
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 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.
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