2 February 2022
Divestments raise Ørsted profits in difficult year
Despite unforeseen problems, the energy company Ørsted managed to get out of 2021 with an operating profit of just over DKK 24 billion (USD 3.65 billion).
Although the headline profit is almost DKK 6 billion better than the year before, the results are buoyed by divestments of the wind farms Borssele 1 & 2 and Greater Changhua, which brought in DKK 8.5 billion.
The underlying profit was weaker as Ørsted struggled with failing wind speed and with challenges with cable protection at some of the company's offshore wind farms. CEO Mads Nipper said that he has high expectations for 2022, with two large, new offshore wind farms coming into operation in the United Kingdom and Taiwan.
According to Nipper, “We have come a long way and have built a strong position as the undisputed global leader in offshore wind. In the same way that we have proven that it is possible to build large offshore wind farms and scale them, we will put all our will and all our competencies into innovating, scaling and accelerating the transformation of the world's energy systems,".
In 2022, Ørsted expects an operating profit of between DKK 19 and 21 billion. Meanwhile, the plan is to invest between SKK 38 and 42 billion in new facilities worldwide.
Ørsted shares have struggled, falling by 33% in 2021, and the trend has continued into the new year. Ørsted shares traded as low as DKK 689 on Tuesday, a long way below their SKK 1350 peak last January.
Press release , Avisen Danmark
Nordics and northern European countries seek more ambition from EU on green aviation fuel
An EU plan to require the aviation sector to use more sustainable fuels would force suppliers to blend at least 2% of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into their kerosene from 2025, rising to 5% in 2030 and 63% in 2050. But, in a letter sent to the Commission's climate and transport policy chiefs, seven countries said that while the EU-level requirements were needed, the proposal should allow countries to go further. "We believe there is room for increasing the ambition further regarding sustainability and boosting of SAF by allowing member states to go beyond minimum EU standards," said a letter signed by ministers from Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden. The countries said higher national targets would incentivise more SAF production and bring down costs sooner.Factors including high costs have hampered demand so far, and SAF currently accounts for less than 1% of Europe's jet fuel consumption.
New textile fibre biofuel plant to be piloted in Lappeenranta, Finland
Nordic Bioproducts Group, which develops technology and materials for the bio- and circular economy, is investing approximately EUR 30 million in a new pilot plant to be built in Lappeenranta. Fiber-X Finland from Lappeenranta is responsible for the design and construction of the plant, which will produce Norratex textile fiber from cellulose, a process developed by Nordic Bioproducts.
The pilot plant will use several different raw material flows in the production process, for example, textile waste, waste from agriculture and fast-growing fiber sources such as willow. The plant consumes a fraction of the chemical, water and electricity compared to the traditional production process, and will be built in such a way that the production process itself is very durable and low-emission.
Construction will start shortly and the plant will start operating at the end of the year, with normal operation planned to start in the first half of 2023. 30–40 people will be hired, mainly process staff, laboratory assistants, sales and marketing staff and white-collar workers.
Green hydrogen production plant to be built in Harjavalta, Finland
Finland's first large-scale green hydrogen production plant will be built in Harjavalta, following P2X Solutions investment decision of EUR 70 million to build a green hydrogen production plant and methanation unit. In December, P2X Solutions received an investment subsidy of EUR 26 million from the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Construction of the plant in Harjavalta Industrial Park will begin in the autumn, with the plant scheduled to start operations in 2024.
SENS joins Long Duration Energy Storage Council
Sustainable Energy Solutions Sweden Holding (SENS) AB announced that the Company has become a member of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council - the “LDES Council”, which provides guidance to governments, grid operators and electricity users on the expansion of long-term energy storage, and its members include technology innovators, energy users and investors.
Another former Swedish Minister joins an energy company
A former Minister of Labour in the Reinfeldt Government, Sven Otto Littorin is now investing in hydrogen production and joining the company Plagazi's advisory board. Littorin is also chairman of Beowulf Mining.
Plagazi's hydrogen process produces hydrogen via the plasma incineration of waste, in combination with other patented technology. The system is completely closed and according to the company, does not emit any environmentally hazardous residual products or CO2, while the cost of hydrogen production is said to be a quarter compared to other sustainable production methods.
Quantafuel shares plunge following capital raising
Quantafuel’s shares fell 18.3% on Monday, following the announcement of a private placement of NOK 400 million on Thursday last week. The share has fallen around 26% since the announcement. Several analysts have pointed out that the timing is strange, indicating more negative news from the company in the future. Nordea Markets points out that the company has repeatedly missed its goal of so-called "Proof-of-concept" at its flagship facility in Denmark’s Skive.
The capital raising was carried out without support from Quantafuel's largest shareholder, the German chemical group BASF, which has been a key investor since the autumn of 2019. Jens Fey, communications manager at BASF, commented that Quantafuel's technology is an "essential piece" in BASF's so-called "ChemCyling" project, which involves using oil from recycled plastic as an input factor in chemical production. "We look forward to continuing our joint efforts to further develop Quantafuel's technology towards optimizing this raw material. For such a collaboration, it is not necessary to increase our ownership interest in the company ".
What we’re reading
- Climate change: EU moves to label nuclear and gas as sustainable despite internal row (BBC)
- Energy Vault inks massive China deal for gravity-based storage project (RenewEconomy)
- Ask the awkward questions about green investing (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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