2 June 2023
Today's Top Nordic Green News:
- Norway acts to catch up on wind power
- NextGenerationEU: Denmark submits request to add a REPowerEU chapter to its recovery and resilience plan
- OX2 signs agreement with Tuulialfa for development of six wind power projects
- Njordr Offshore Wind proposes SEK 60 billion investment for giant wind farm near Karlskrona
- SSAB announces investment for green conversion of production in Oxelösund
Norway acts to catch up on offshore wind
Following Denmark’s announcement of its tender framework for the Bornholm Energy Island as reported in yesterday’s Nordic Green News, Norway has agreed on beginning its first major offshore wind project. The so-called Southern North Sea II project (Sørlige Nordsjø II) will be installed in the seas between Denmark and Norway. State-support to the tune of NOK 23 billion was announced at a press conference this morning, from which the Conservative Party was noticeably absent. The Conservatives abandoned negotiations—which were subsequently agreed by all Norway’s centre and centre-left parties—earlier this week over insurmountable subsidies disputes. As recently as 31 March 2023, the project was presented to Norway’s parliament as requiring NOK 15 billion of funding. The amount as ultimately agreed will remain with the wind farm operators only if domestic electricity prices drop too low in the course of the next 15 years for the wind farm to make net profits. In anticipation of construction, the Conservatives and Liberals have signalled their mutual objective to force installation of hybrid cables connecting the project to a neighbouring country (similar to Denmark’s arrangement with Germany), and so enable exports from the offshore wind turbines’ energy surpluses.
NextGenerationEU: Denmark submits request to add a REPowerEU chapter to its recovery and resilience plan
The European Commission announced on Thursday. It will cover measures related to renewable energy, developing green skills, replacing oil burners and gas furnaces and carbon capture and storage. The Danish government aims to achieve the additional REPowerEU objectives through one new reform, one new investment and two existing investments that would be scaled up. The total EU contribution to Denmark would then be worth €1.63 bln. The Commission has now up to two months to assess the proposal.
OX2 signs agreement with Tuulialfa for development of six wind power projects
OX2 has entered into a partnership with Finnish Tuulialfa to develop and construct a portfolio of approximately 1,200MW of onshore wind power in North Ostrobothnia and Lapland, Finland. The agreement encompasses six wind power projects, with plans to build around 150 wind turbines. These projects are expected to be ready for investment between 2025 and 2028, with locations in Utajärvi, Pudasjärvi, Oulu, Kittilä and Kuusamo. The collaboration aims to meet the increasing electricity consumption in Finland and strengthen OX2's existing project portfolio. Tuulialfa will be responsible for project development, while OX2 will handle financing, procurement, construction, and operation. The partnership also includes the development of the Turkkiselä project in Vaala.
Njordr Offshore Wind proposes SEK 60 billion investment for giant wind farm near Karlskrona
Njordr Offshore Wind, a wind power developer, has announced plans to construct a massive offshore wind farm south of Karlskrona, Sweden. With a total investment of SEK 60 billion, the project aims to obtain government approval by 2025 and be operational by 2030. The proposed wind farm would consist of 127 turbines located approximately six miles southeast of Karlskrona and is expected to generate over 10 TWh of electricity annually, surpassing the production capacity of the closed Barsebäck nuclear power reactors.
SSAB announces investment for green conversion of production in Oxelösund
SSAB has announced an investment decision to convert its production in Oxelösund for a greener approach. The decision aims to reduce Sweden's total CO2 emissions by 3% and involves starting steel production without carbon dioxide emissions by the fourth quarter of 2026. This move is part of SSAB's plan to transition its entire Nordic production system to fossil-free steel production by around 2030. The investment includes a new electric arc furnace and associated raw material handling, along with the necessary power line and restoration costs. The conversion will enhance flexibility, increase earning capacity, improve cost position, and support the production of premium products. SSAB's commitment to fossil-free steel production aligns with its involvement in the HYBRIT initiative, which focuses on developing new technologies for fossil-free steel production.
Press Release, Nordiska Projekt
H2 Green Steel receives fast environmental permit, EU parliament votes for sustainable textile strategy
H2 Green Steel has received a record-quick environmental permit for its production facility in the municipality of Boden. The permit was granted in less than 18 months, allowing the company to begin its operations with certain conditions related to air, dust, and noise control. With the environmental permit, H2 Green Steel is authorised to produce 280,000 tons of hydrogen gas and 4,200,000 tons of sponge iron annually, enabling the production of up to 5 million tonnes of fossil-free steel each year.
Rapid growth in corporate PPAs for renewable energy in Nordic region
Enerdatics, an energy data analytics company, reveals that corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) for renewable energy in the Nordic region have doubled in 2022 compared to 2020, driven by market volatilities and uncertainties. Denmark and Sweden lead the PPA activity, accounting for around 68% of contracted volume. Nordic developers are adopting a quasi-merchant revenue model, contracting a portion of capacity to corporate off-takers at a fixed price while selling the rest on the wholesale market. This trend is motivated by the need to mitigate budgetary risk and negotiate agreements more easily due to the region's lower power prices. Recent PPAs include Renantis' agreement with Amazon and involvement from the technology and telecom sectors. Enerdatics also provides insights on renewable energy M&A, with Shell's acquisition of Sprng Energy and Great River Hydro's portfolio sale.
Vattenfall explores hydrogen production from wind and nuclear power
Vattenfall is exploring the production of hydrogen by utilising new wind power in Kattegatt and small modular reactors at Ringhals. This initiative is seen as a comprehensive solution that combines nuclear and wind power. Vattenfall is currently planning for the development of both offshore wind power and small modular reactors. In parallel, their Generation and Wind business areas are working on the development of electrolysers to facilitate hydrogen production. The company sees the potential to build electrolysers at Ringhals, creating a versatile facility for generating fossil-free electricity and producing hydrogen. Andreas Regnell, the head of strategy at Vattenfall, expressed optimism about the project's potential.
Ørsted and ESB form partnership for Irish offshore wind development and renewable hydrogen exploration
Ørsted has entered into a partnership with ESB, an Irish energy company, to jointly develop an Irish offshore wind portfolio. The collaboration aims to develop up to five GW of renewable energy and explore the possibilities of producing renewable hydrogen. Ireland, with its abundant ocean area, is well-suited for the development of offshore wind projects, which can contribute to reducing CO2 emissions and achieving the country's net-zero emissions goal. The partnership signifies a significant step towards Ireland's target of installing seven GW of offshore wind by 2030 and aligns with the government's efforts to create a strong offshore wind sector.
Private auto orders falling in Sweden
According to the auto industry organisation Mobility Sweden, the number of newly registered cars increased by 8% in May, to a total of 28,490. However, this should be seen against the fact that new registrations taken together actually decreased during the first five months of 2023. Businesses accounted for 70% of the new cars in May and e-cars were 61.9 % of this. Mobility Sweden said that this is because companies are replacing their cars with new e-cars. The CEO of Mobility Sweden, Mattias Bergman, commented that the private car market is now “ice cold” in Sweden - and especially when it comes to private e-cars. Bergman thinks that it will just get worse since car orders have been halved recently and e-cars are the largest part of this auto order loss.
What we’re reading
- Saudi Arabia expands lithium processing to supply BMW (Financial Times)
- EU regulators flag rising greenwashing practices by banks (Financial Times)
- Amazon gateway city Belém will host Cop30 climate talks (Climate Home News)
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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