22 March 2022

Northvolt invests in lithium-free battery producer 

Battery manufacturer Northvolt together with a number of other companies such as Molindo Energy and EIT InnoEnergy Scandinavia have together invested SEK 100 million into Uppsala based company, Altris which is aiming to develop batteries run on sodium rather than cobalt, nickel, copper or lithium. “We will partly use the money for further development, partly to build a factory that will manufacture cathode materials,” said CEO of Altris, Adam Dahlquist. Sodium batteries are currently in research phase and serial production could begin the earliest next year. One limitation is that sodium ion batteries cannot store as much energy per kilogram as the lithium ion batteries in electric cars. This is a problem if one wants to build a car that goes a long way on one charge. The big competitive advantage, in addition to avoiding raw materials such as cobalt and lithium, is the price, with sodium ion being significantly cheaper than lithium batteries for example. “We expect that the technology will within a number of years be dominant for stationary applications such as energy storage in wind farms. We also see a large market for vehicles where price is important but where long range is not crucial,” said Dahlquist. Northvolt confirms the investment but is otherwise tight-lipped about its new venture. “Of course we do it from a technology perspective, but also from an ambition to be involved in building an ecosystem for battery technology in this part of the world,” said Communications Manager Jesper Wigardt.

SvD

Hafslund Eco, Infranode and HitecVision buy Fortum Oslo Varme

A new industrial partnership of Hafslund Eco, Infranode and HitecVision has entered into an agreement to buy Fortum Oslo Varme, priced at NOK 20 billion. Fortum Oslo Varme is Norway’s largest district heating player and provides heat and hot water to more than 200,000 people. Hafslund Eco will become the majority owner with 60% partnership, while Infranode and HitecVision will have significant minority positions of 20% each. 

Press release

Sun4Energy acquires 100% of Atum Energi

The solar cell company Sun4Energy will acquire 100% of the shares in Atum Energi, which is an installer of solar cells in Helsingborg. The deal amounts to approximately SEK 7.5 million, and includes a cash portion of SEK 2.24 million and a share portion in the form of newly issued shares in Sun4Energy to a value of SEK 5.23 million. Atum Energi had sales of approximately SEK 8.6 million 2021, with an EBITDA result of SEK 52,000. In 2022, the company is expected to reach a turnover of more than SEK 14 million.  

Realtid´

Ørsted completes Haystack Wind onshore wind farm

Ørsted’s new onshore wind farm Haystack Wind in Nebraska has just finished construction and is ready to be put into operation. The wind farm has a total capacity of 298 MW and the wind energy will come from 5 MW wind turbines from Siemens Gamesa. The vast majority of the electricity from Haystack Wind is passed on to Hormel Foods, Target and PepsiCo, with which the Danish energy company has entered into electricity purchase agreements. With the new wind farm completed, the company’s onshore wind and solar energy business in the USA has reached a total capacity of over 3 GW in operation. 

Press release, EnergiWatch

PX2 Solutions signs supply agreement of electrolysis equipment with Sunfire

Finland’s power-to-x technology company, P2X Solutions, which is building Finland’s first industrial-scale green hydrogen and synthetic methane production plant in Harjavalta, has selected German Sunfire as its supplier of electrolysis equipment for its first production facility. The electrolysis equipment is the most significant single investment in P2X Solutions’ first production facility. The Harjavalta green hydrogen production plant will reduce Finland’s CO2 emissions by approximately 40,000 tonnes per year and the heat and oxygen generated as by-products can be utilised in industrial processes. Construction will begin in late 2022 and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024.

Press release

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