28 April 2022
City of Gothenburg is first to link sustainability goals to loans
The City of Gothenburg will become the first municipality to connect financing with sustainability goals when renegotiating loans. If the sub-targets are achieved, there will be an interest discount. If they are not achieved, there will be an interest penalty. The financing, which has been negotiated with the major Nordic banks, consists of a three year to five-year loan promise, amounting to a total of SEK 8 billion. “With our work, we hope to inspire other municipalities and regions to also link their finances with sustainability work to increase the pace of the green transition”, said Fredrik Block, portfolio manager at the City Management Office.
Uniper and Sasol ecoFT sign LOI with Sollefteå
Uniper has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Sollefteå municipality to, in collaboration with Sasol ecoFT, explore the possibilities of establishing a new industrial project for sustainable aviation fuel. The project, which goes under the name SkyFuelH2, aims to become the first production facility of its kind to contribute to the green transition within the aviation industry. SkyFuelH2 will use Sasol ecoFT’s Fischer-Tropsch technology, which combines carbon from biomass with renewable hydrogen, on an industrial scale to produce sustainable aviation fuel.
Volvo Cars invests in StoreDot
Volvo Cars has invested in StoreDot, an Israeli developer of battery technology for fast charging of electric cars. The investment is made through the Volvo Cars’ venture capital arm, the Volvo Tech Fund. StoreDot is currently working on a technology that, according to the company, should result in batteries that can charge to 160km of pure electric range in 5 minutes. The collaboration between the two will mainly take place within the battery technology joint venture that Volvo Cars established with Northvolt last year.
Sweden tries to counter-attack against the EU’s climate law forest targets
On 21 April, the European Parliament and its member states agreed on a proposal for the EU’s new climate law. One part, which has not been formally written into the law, regards increasing the net storage of carbon in the landscape and in wood products to the equivalent of at least 300 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030. The Swedish Government is now trying to turn the demands about increased storage into guidelines, rather than mandatory regulation. According to Magnus Nilsson Produktion, there are a number of measures that Sweden can take to increase its net storage. For example, re-wetting drained wetlands so that leakage from them is reduced, building more in wood, and reforming agriculture to make sure that a larger proportion of arable land is kept covered all year around. However, he opines that the more realistic measure that needs to be taken in order to meet the EU’s demand of increasing the net storage is, to the Government’s chagrin, to decrease deforestation. If the Government was to intentionally limit deforestation, the Swedish forest policy, whose aim has always been the opposite, would have to face a new situation. Nonetheless, Nilsson argues that if the EU is to meet its climate goals, then decreasing deforestation is a must. then decreasing deforestation is a must. then decreasing deforestation is a must.
The County Administration Board says no to Sweden’s largest solar park
European Energy had plans to build Sweden’s largest solar park in Helsingborg. The new facility would have taken up over 232 hectares, generating 170 GWh per year. However, the County Administration Board recently announced their decision to reject the company’s ambitious plans. The reason being, that the solar park would be located on what is considered to be Sweden’s most fertile arable land which, according to the law, can only be used if it satisfies an important public interest and more specifically, if the solar park cannot be placed elsewhere. As a result, the County Administration Board deems the food supply more important than the supply of renewable energy and asks the Government for clearer guidelines in the future.
OX2 reports great profit in 1Q22
The wind and solar energy company OX2 is considered one of this year’s stock market winners after having reported a sharp increase in sales and profit during 1Q22. Revenues increased to SEK 1.6 billion during the first quarter, a 61% increase compared with 1Q21. At the same time, operating profit rose from SEK 25 million to SEK 105 million, resulting in an increase of 320%. The company’s gross margin was strengthened to 18.2% and profit after tax landed at SEK 111 million, compared with SEK 48 million in 1Q21. The company’s share rose sharply on 27 April and is one of this year’s winners on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
Metacon and Gisab receive order worth SEK 56 million
The hydrogen company Metacon has, in collaboration with the EPC partner Gisab, entered into an agreement with a value of approximately SEK 56 million for the delivery of 2 electrolysis-based filling stations of green hydrogen to Botnia Hydrogen. Metacon has also entered into an agreement with Botnia Hydrogen to make an investment of SEK 5.5 million in exchange for approximately 16% of the ownership in the company. The investment will be completed before the end of August 2022.
Texel reserves land for a new battery factory in Malmö
Malmö’s technical committee has approved the Swedish-American battery company Texel Energy Storage AB’s land reservation of 50,000 sqm in Norra hamnen in Malmö. The company plans to use the land to build a new battery factory as well as a new hydrogen and energy storage laboratory.
Equinor awards COWI design contract for Empire Wind
COWI has been awarded the assignment to supply complete design of foundations for the wind turbines for Empire Wind 1 and 2. The new wind turbines are part of Empire Offshore Wind, the latest project by the joint venture between Equinor and bp. The wind turbines, whose expected production of renewable energy is estimated at more than 2 GW, will be installed off the coast of Long Island, New York.
What we’re reading
- Europe decries 'blackmail' as Russia cuts gas to Poland, Bulgaria (Reuters)
- New legislation to spur UK’s switch to low-carbon economy (Financial Times)
- EU energy groups prepare to meet Vladimir Putin’s terms for Russian gas (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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