To mark the delivery of its latest long term market analysis, Lotta Medelius-Bredhe, Director General of Svenska kraftnät, the operator of Sweden’s grid, writes an opinion piece in one of Sweden’s leading newspapers, demanding new legislation to shorten the lead time for expanding Sweden’s grid in order to cope with a forecast doubling of demand in the next 20 years.
Her starting point is that extensive electrification of society is necessary Sweden is to achieve its climate goal of no net GHG by 2045. But, as it takes 10–12 years from the decision to get a new line into operation, the risk that Sweden takes the wrong action or that it happens too late is obvious.
In spring, the Government presented a number of different proposals, with modern permit processes for electricity networks - to simplify and shorten the permit procedure for building new power lines. But further changes in legislation are needed, and are being investigated by various government processes.
The “Long-term market analysis” (LMA 2021) report presents four scenarios that show different development paths for the power system and what needs these may entail. Amongst the most impactful conclusions are that Sweden’s power system changes dramatically from today, viz:
● Electricity prices which become more volatile, due to variations in electricity production, which is becoming more dependent on the weather.
● Recurring power shortages are a risk, requiring flexibility in electricity use (demand management).
● The power system becomes less predictable, and the challenges of maintaining power system stability increase.
The Norwegian cleantech company, Quantafuel has received approval from Esbjerg City Council to continue with the construction of a NOK 750 million factory, to process 80,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually. According to Quantafuel, it is expected to be able to start construction of the factory in Veldbæk during the autumn.
Quantafuel will transform the plastic waste into oil products that can be utilized in the chemical industry into new plastic products. Large international companies such as BASF, Vitol and the Lego family's investment and holding company Kirkbi are partners in Quantafuel's efforts to promote the recycling of plastic waste. (Erhverv)
Bioextrax AB, which was founded in 2014 based on research at the Department of Biotechnology at Lund University, uses technology to enable the extraction of the bioplastic PHA from PHA-producing bacteria. Bioextrax has announced that it has entered into an evaluation agreement with a leading European company that compounds and distributes bioplastics. The agreement applies to ongoing evaluations of the different types of bioplastic PHA that can be produced with Bioextrax technologies and processes, as well as microfibers that are produced from feathers. (press release)
Finnish fuel refiner, Neste has reached the final phase of tests for a new type of petrol that consists of 75% renewable raw materials. The new petrol, made from lignin and other residual waste products from the forestry and agricultural industries is a drop-in solution that is mixed with regular petrol. It can be used both in all cars that can handle E10 petrol. (Microsoft News)
A subsidiary of Norwegian company, Zephyr has launched a consultation on up to 1400MW of offshore wind, about 40km northwest of Gothenburg. The Poseidon project would be split into two zones – north and south – and feature between 61 and 94 turbines with total heights of 260 - 340 metres. (Renews.biz)
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. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary, in English.