16 September 2022
Factory for electric aircraft to be built in Gothenburg
A factory for the manufacture of a partially electric passenger aircraft is to be built at Säve Airport in Gothenburg. The company in charge, Heart Aerospace, expects that over 1,000 people will work at the factory to manufacture within three years a propeller plane for 30 passengers that will be able to take off for regional flights in 2028. Northern Runway is being launched as the new name for the project at the same time as Heart Aerospace receives two new shareholders, Air Canada and SAAB. “We have a plan and it is not just to build a new electric aircraft, but a completely new industry. Sweden is the country of origin for the flight shame (Sw. flygskammen, the anti-flying social movement to reduce environmental impact) and the anti-aircraft movement. But with Northern Runway, we will make travelling by electric aircraft a reality and preserve the possibility of flying for future generations,” says Anders Forslund, the Founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace.
The investment in the aircraft factory takes place together with the land owner at Säve, the listed real estate company Castellum. It includes a new office for Heart Aerospace, a research and development centre, prototype hangar, test flight hangar and a final assembly hall. Castellum says that the first part of the aircraft factory should be ready by mid-2024. Test flights are promised for 2026 and the developers of the electric aircraft will have access to their own runway. According to the CEO of SAS, Anko van der Werff, the electric aircrafts could make up 20-25% of the company’s fleet by 2035
Message From Our Sponsor
Orthex Group moves toward more sustainable raw materials in cooperation with INEOS Styrolution and BASF
Orthex, a Nordic producer of household products, has selected a range of INEOS Styrolution’s sustainable Luran® ECO raw materials for its range of SmartStoreTM Compact storage products. Luran ECO is a styrene acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN) resulting from a cooperation between INEOS Styrolution and BASF. It is built on BASF’s production of styrene monomer derived from renewable feedstock based on a mass balance approach (styrene BMB). According to an independent third-party assessment, the carbon footprint of the new material is 93% lower compared to the fossil-based Luran version.
Possible Swedish governing parties SD and KD could prevent green transition
Before the Swedish elections, researchers in climate change and adaptation made an analysis of the climate policies of seven political parties in the Swedish Parliament, in which the parties were asked to answer a survey with questions about their climate goals and climate policies. The Moderates were the only party that chose not to participate. The results of the analysis show that the Christian Democrats (KD) and the Sweden Democrats (SD) end up at the bottom. “We assess that SD and KD are actively preventing the green transition we need in Sweden. They want to remove existing measures and do not want to replace them with something that will reduce emissions. So in practice, emissions will go up with both of these parties,” notes Kimberly Nicholas, one of the researchers behind the study. “Both SD and KD want to transfer responsibility for climate policy to the EU and the rest of the world. At the same time, these parties do not want to accept the EU’s proposals on forestry and land use, which are more ambitious than Sweden’s goals. Thus, they would like the responsibility to lie elsewhere, but only when it is convenient,” continues Nicholas.
According to the researchers, the Liberals have the best climate policy in the right-wing constellation, even if their climate policy is deemed as “slow and insufficient.” They have “a well-developed coherent logic for climate action,” but at the same time they receive criticism for over-optimistic plans that “are based on the yet-to-be-realised scalability of new technologies.”
Vertical axis floating offshore wind turbine ready for 1MW test in Norway
A 1MW vertical axis floating offshore wind turbine is set to be commissioned in Norwegian waters, thanks to a joint effort between Swedish wind power company SeaTwirl and marine industry specialist Westcon Yards. SeaTwirl said that a letter of intent signed with Westcon Yards agreed to cooperate in the manufacture and installation of the 1MW S2x turbine on site in Norway. It has not been specified where exactly this will be, but SeaTwirl noted that Westcon Yards builds vessels and performs offshore infrastructure maintenance at four different locations in Norway. According to SeaTwirl, its turbine designs offer many advantages over their larger horizontal axis counterparts as they can be anchored in deeper water where winds are stronger and more reliable.
Einride to Germany: "In the driving seat of Europe"
Swedish logistics technology company Einride is launching an offensive on German soil together with Electrolux. The partnership is expected to reduce the Swedish appliance giant's CO2 emissions by 92%. Einride is now opening an office in Berlin and will also focus on major logistics hubs such as Hamburg and the Ruhr. It will also build a charging network along Germany's most important business routes. Einride says that through digitisation, automation and electrification they can help Electrolux to significantly reduce costs, delivery times and emissions.
Extension to Piteå Rise laboratory inaugurated following SEK 350 million supplement
The opening of a new extension to the Piteå Rise research facility has been announced. Following a government supplement of SEK 350 million to the institute, the research facility has been modernised and supplemented with a test bed for the biorefinery. The laboratory is the first of its kind to produce "green" carbon black, which is used in automotive tyres, for example. Research on solar energy under northern conditions, recycling of complex waste streams and renewable fuels is also carried out at the laboratory. Meanwhile Rise's department manager has said they also have a very exciting project involving the development of bio-based aviation fuels. This type of innovation takes time to scale up and it could take up to five years from experimental scale to bring it to market.
Belgian company Umicore signs wind power agreement with Statkraft and Gasum
Norwegian state-owned company Statkraft and Belgian company Umicore have signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) to source renewable energy from onshore wind turbines in Finland. The agreement will cover part of the requirements of Umicore's plant in Kokkola, which produces precursor cathode active materials and refines cobalt for electric vehicle rechargeable batteries. Statkraft will provide Umicore with approximately 60 GWh per year of renewable energy generation and a guarantee of origin for the Nuolivaara wind farm in northern Finland. The non-subsidised wind farm will consist of 17 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 96.9 MW and is expected to be commissioned in 2023. The contract is for a period of 10 years starting in 2024. Meanwhile, the Finnish state-owned company Gasum has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Umicore to provide it with 45 GWh of renewable electricity per year. The electricity will be delivered to Umicore's plant in Kalbi, Finland. The 10-year wind power agreement will come into effect in 2025.
VINDKAFTSnyheter, Press Release
Huge straw biogas plant could be on the way to Lolland, Denmark
The Danish-owned Biofuel Technology is studying the possibility of setting up a straw biogas plant in Lolland-Falster for DKK 475 million. If applicable, this would mean a doubling of biogas production in the region, which would be 3-4 times the local gas consumption. In addition to biogas, the plant will also produce fertiliser from surplus material. The facility is expected to be operational in 2024-25, with construction expected to begin in 2022-23.
Ammongas to supply CO2-capture facility to biogas plant in Tønder for use by Power-to-X
A new CO2 capture facility will be built in the future at ENVO Biogas Tønder. The captured CO2 will be used by European Energy to produce e-methanol, which will be delivered to the shipping company AP Moeller Maersk. The plant is supplied by Ammongas, of which European Energy is co-owner. With this development, European Energy's e-methanol production is one step closer to being realised. Earlier this year, European Energy signed an agreement with ENVO Biogas Tønder for the supply of purified and liquid CO2. It is now certain that Ammongas will supply facilities for clean and liquefied CO2. With this agreement, Ammongas expands its capabilities in CO2 capture and treatment.
Azelio's Board of Directors intends to decide on a fully guaranteed share placement of approximately SEK 300 million
The Board of Directors of Azelio AB recently announced its intention to resolve on a fully underwritten rights issue of units, consisting of new shares and warrants, of approximately SEK 300 million (the "Rights Issue"). The Company's largest shareholder, Board member Kent Janér, has committed, directly and through companies, to subscribe for units in the Rights Issue for approximately SEK 25.6 million. Additional members of the Board of Directors have together entered into subscription commitments totalling approximately SEK 4.3 million. In total, the subscription commitments amount to approximately SEK 31 million, corresponding to approximately 10% of the Rights Issue. The net proceeds of the Rights Issue are intended to be used to: (i) fund the Company's ongoing operations, (ii) invest to accelerate the commercialization of the TES.POD system, (iii) invest in the production of core technologies, and (iv) the ongoing product development and purchase of tools for the TES.POD system. Azelio has indicated that there is now an opportunity to fulfil their desire to create the conditions for 24/7 access to create the conditions for a renewable, clean and decentralised energy system.
What we're reading
- European gas traders dare to dream that prices have peaked (Financial Times)
- UK energy security bill paused to prioritise support for businesses (Financial Times)
- The world’s second biggest cryptocurrency just got a lot greener (CNN)
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.
Powered by Notified