Municipalities need more economic incentives to approve wind power projects, an inquiry has found. Investigator Ulrika Liljeberg, who led the inquiry, proposes that residents who live near wind turbines should receive economic compensation and adds that municipal authorities need to generate revenue to cover the costs of the projects. While the inquiry did not seek to find out how to generate said revenue to cover costs, Liljeberg has suggested a tax could be a possible avenue to generate funds. The Minister for Climate and the Environment, Romina Pourmokhtari (L), shares the view that “a clever model for more incentives” to municipalities is needed, otherwise the wind power industry will come to a standstill. Joining the debate, SCA, Sweden’s largest private owner, says that the wind power industry cannot foot all the costs in the expansion plans.
TT, SVTNyheter, TT, Regeringskansliet
Hitachi Energy has won a multibillion-dollar deal worth SEK 147 billion to supply technology for offshore wind power in the North Sea. The deal is one of Sweden's largest industrial orders ever and is expected to create around 1,000 new jobs, primarily in Ludvika. The Foreign Trade Minister of Sweden, Johan Forsell, has welcomed the news, calling it a "fantastic day" for both Ludvika and Sweden.
Norwegian energy company Horisont Energi has announced plans to produce "blue power" from gas for northern Norway's central power grid, via a blue ammonia plant. The project is part of the Barents Blue project, which will produce blue ammonia on an industrial scale using gas from Hammerfest LNG. The ammonia plant will also utilise Horizont Energi’s Polaris CO2 storage to achieve better synergies between blue ammonia and power, and contribute to the hydrogen value chain in the EU. Horisont Energi aims to produce several hundred megawatts of stable balanced power with high environmental and climate standards, which it says will be available before 2030.
Horisont Energi has worked with Norwegian grid operators Lucerna (the local grid company in Hammerfest) and Statnett to ensure sufficient power supply for the project's first stage and expects an updated application by this summer. The Barents Blue project meets the requirements of the EU taxonomy for the production of hydrogen and ammonia, and has received NOK 482 million in support from Enova. The project is also expected to create several hundred new jobs and contribute to establishing a new green industry in Northern Norway.
Singapore-based BW Energy Storage Systems (BW ESS) is investing SEK 1 billion in energy storage projects in Sweden and the money will be channelled via the energy storage company Ingrid Capacity, which plans to take a large number of battery facilities off the ground to support the strained energy network in Sweden. Ingrid Capacity’s Chief Strategist Nicklas Bäcker says that “it feels fantastic that we as a new Swedish business in today’s tough investment climate have managed to raise SEK 1 billion, and even more so from such a strong and competent actor as the BW Group. Thanks to this investment, we will be able to raise the pace in our expansion and establish over 20 large battery facilities totalling 400 MW primarily in southern Sweden by 2025 alone.”
Hynion, a Swedish company who builds and operates hydrogen filling stations around Scandinavia, has signed an agreement with Jönköping Municipality for a land lease for a hydrogen filling station. The station will be built in the logistics area of Torsvik, which is the country's fastest-growing logistics area with a strategic location on the E4. The filling station will have a capacity of 1,500 kg of hydrogen per day and will be adapted for heavy vehicles but also for passenger cars. The station is expected to be completed in 2023. The move is part of a larger trend towards fossil-free transportation in the region.
TECO 2030 has announced the commencement of manual fuel cell stack production at its Innovation Center in Narvik, Norway, marking a significant milestone towards the commercialization of its fuel cell technology for marine and land-based applications. The fuel cell stacks are a core component of TECO 2030's hydrogen fuel cell system, designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency in various industries. The company will initially produce fuel cell stacks in small quantities and plans to scale up production to meet the growing demand for fuel cell technology.
Cyan Renewables, a new player in the European offshore wind industry, has partnered with Norwegian company Ulstein Design & Solutions to develop floating foundation installation vessels (FFIVs) for efficient wind turbine installation offshore. Cyan Renewables will be based in Esbjerg and will focus on high-value tonnage segments offshore, including all larger and more expensive special vessels from service operation vessels (SOVs) up to the largest installation vessels. Cyan Renewables is owned and financed by investment interests in Singapore, and the FFIV vessels will be designed by Ulstein Design & Solutions, a ship design house with a strong track record in heavy lift tonnage design.
The partial master plan for the Sarvikangka wind power project between the villages of Lahnanen and Paltanen in Pieksämäki, Finland, has been made available for public viewing until the end of May. The plan proposes building a maximum of 32 wind turbines on an area of approximately 2,880 hectares. The zoning will be carried out alongside an environmental impact assessment, and the public is encouraged to submit statements and reminders by May 29. A public event will also be held on May 4 to provide more information about the project.
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.