24 February 2022
Norway’s Government to strengthen cooperation with the EU on climate and industry
Norway’s PM Jonas Gahr Støre visited Brussels to meet with, among others, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Charles Michel, President of the European Council to support the EU’s green endowment. “Norway has solutions that the EU needs and the EU is the most important market for Norwegian business and industry. A strengthened partnership with the EU will be of great importance for a number of Norwegian industrial investments in the years to come, such as offshore wind, batteries, minerals, green shipping, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage. This is an initiative that will secure existing jobs as well as create new sustainable jobs in Norway”, said Støre.
Belgian PM wants electricity from Norway
In the long term, the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo wants a power cable from Norwegian wind power straight to Belgium. The county will both phase out its nuclear power and eventually phase out fossil energy. To achieve this, Belgium must have enormous amounts of renewable energy. However, the Belgian proposal is regarded as controversial, not least internally by the Norwegian Government who recently concluded that power from offshore wind should primarily stay in Norway and not be exported.
BYD and Einride sign large order for heavy-duty battery electric trucks
BYD announced today that Swedish freight technology company, Einride has purchased 200 Class 8 8TT battery-electric day cab trucks for deployment across the United States, the largest-ever order of its kind outside of Asia. BYD will begin delivery of the first vehicles in February, with all 200 vehicles delivered in the next 12 months. Einride will utilise the vehicles to grow their global fleet of connected electric vehicles to serve their U.S. customers throughout key transport regions. Saga, Einride’s technology platform that plays the critical role in ensuring electric shipping is efficient and optimised, will power the full fleet of signed BYD vehicles.
Swappie raises €108 million in new funding round
Swappie, which resells used Apple phones online, has raised €108 million in a Series C refinancing round. Founded in 2016, the company plans to hire 1,000 new employees and scale 15 existing European markets with fresh growth funding. The company has so far raised €149 million in financing, and has been part of a Circular Economy program at Tesi (the Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) – a state-owned investment company investing in venture capital and private equity funds and directly in growth companies.
According to Heli Kerminen, Vice President, of Tesi's venture capital team, “Swappie, which extends the average life of smartphones and thus reduces their environmental impact and promotes sustainable consumption behaviour, is an excellent investment target for Tesi Circular Economy program and efficiency goals. The recycled phone market is forecast to grow faster than the new smartphone market, and Tesi wants to continue to support Swappie's strong growth and internationalisation with its continued investment.”
The round was led by Verdane, a Norwegian venture capitalist investing in Nordic and Northern European technology companies, amongst other firms.
Press release, Osto&logistiikka
South Pole’s CEO announces an extreme level of assignments
The global consulting company South Pole’s CEO recently announced that the number of climate assignments is now reaching extreme levels. The company is forced to decline assignments on a daily basis. In addition, it is almost impossible to find provisions for all the billions that customers want to spend on climate compensation. South Pole’s Swedish CEO confirms that the pressure is high here as well.
Swedbank’s Annual and Sustainability Report 2021
Swedbank’s 2021 result is the second best full year net profit in the bank’s history, according to its latest Annual ad Sustainability Report 2021. Reported income was higher, expenses developed according to plan during 2021 and return on equity increased to 13.2%. Swedbank’s green asset register witnessed a considerable increase during 2021, which enabled the bank to issue three green bonds in EUR, USD and GDP. As a result, Swedbank now has green bonds with a total value of SEK 30.5 billion. The bank’s direct greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by 63% since 2019 and its oil-related decommission portfolio has declined from SEK 23.5 billion to SEK 3.5 billion.
New collaboration for the electrification of trucks
Tekniska verken in Linköping has begun to cooperate with four regional energy companies in southern Sweden on continued expansion of charging solutions for trucks. Tekniska verken, Öresundskraft, Mälarenergi, Jönköping Energi and Göteborg Energi who, together with national players in the logistics industry, will expand the charging infrastructure for trucks in a major national investment. “Our common goal is to become the leading partner in charging and associated services when freight flows in Southern Sweden are electrified”, said Charlotta Sund, President and CEO of Tekniska verken in Linköping.
Insider acquires major postal shares in Ecoclime Group
Board member Gaetan Boyer and his family and close associates, including Hamberg förvaltning AB, have in recent days acquired 263,000 shares in Ecoclime Group AB via the stock exchange.
OX2 sells wind farm outside Sundsvall for SEK 2 billion
OX2 has signed an agreement to sell and build the Klevberget wind farm outside Sundsvall to Renewable Power Capital Ltd for a total value of SEK 2 billion, including technical and commercial management under a 15-year agreement. The handover is estimated for the second half of 2023 and will consist of 24 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 145 MW.
Stora Enso and Picadelo to collaborate
Europe’s leading companies in take-away salad bars, Stora Enso and Picadelo, are launching renewable lids in molded fibre that will replace disposable plastic in salad packaging. The lids are made of Stora Enso’s PureFiber, are completely free of plastic, recyclable and biodegradable. The innovation will help Picadeli to reduce its plastic waste by about 120 tonnes per year.
ABB and Ballard deepen industrial partnership
ABB and Ballard Power Systems have decided to go further with their industry-leading partnership to decarbonise marine transport and have received a principle approval from DNV for their high-power fuel cell concept. The development started in 2018 and a principle approval is an important milestone in the development of new technology. The approval confirms that the design is feasible and that there are no significant obstacles to prevent the concept from being realised. With the approval, the jointly developed solutions can be completed within the next couple of years for use on board a wide range of vessels.
Polestar announces more global partners for Polestar 0
As was reported yesterday, Polestar 0 is the name of Polestar’s new ambitious project to develop a climate-neutral car by 2030. Today, Polestar announced the official partners who, together with the company, will drive the project across the finish line. The official partners include the Swedish steel group SSAB, the Norwegian steel supplier Hydro, the German car parts manufacturer ZF, the lightning and electronics specialist ZKW and the world’s leading supplier of car safety Autoliv.
“It was clear from the beginning that this was not a solo project, which is why we are very pleased to be able to present such a strong range of interested partners, all of whom are leaders in their field. We take advantage of innovation and collaboration to deal with the climate crisis”, said Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar.
Danish PtX industry wants the Government to accelerate its work
The Danish Government has announced a strategy to boost the development of a Danish PtX industry to enable emissions to be reduced in the sectors that are currently difficult to electrify directly. While representatives from the PtX industry in Denmark welcome the Government’s proposed strategy as it points to many of the right elements and framework conditions that are necessary to be able to develop and upscale the PtX industry in Denmark, they believe that more can be done. The representatives therefore urge the Government to support the Danish business opportunities as a PtX exporter, and make Denmark a pioneering country with an objective of Danish electrolysis capacity of 4-6 GW by 2030.
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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