2021-09-28 14:57News

28 September 2021

Mundus Nordic Green News

Norway’s $1.4 trillion wealth fund to insist on sustainable mandate 

The world’s biggest owner of publicly traded stocks, Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund worth $1.4 trillion, is set to get a political green light to insist that all of the companies in its portfolio have clear CO2-emission targets. The Labour Party in Norway, which won the recent election that focused on the country’s fossil-fuel dependence, has made clear it wants to embrace more aggressive environmental policies. That includes providing a more stringent framework for Norges Bank Investment Management. The $1.4 trillion fund should now commit to net-zero carbon-dioxide emissions by 2050, Espen Barth Eide, Labor’s climate spokesman, told Bloomberg. Eide said he’s not expecting to ask the fund to dump fossil-fuel stocks from one day to the next. But he said oil companies without ambitious net-zero goals will be in the crosshairs. They’ll need to have “credible and accountable plans.” (Bloomberg). 

Ovako targeting carbon neutral steel production in 2022

Steel producer Ovako targets carbon neutral steel production starting 1 January 2022 by using new technology such as heating steel with fossil free hydrogen. A large-scale implementation of the hydrogen-driven steel heating technology would reduce its production emissions by a total of 80% from 2015 – or a 50% reduction from today’s emission levels. The initiative has received support from the Swedish Energy Agency as well as several industry partners (Metaller och Gruvor, Metal Supply). 

Statkraft sells wind park in Scotland for NOK 1.4 billion 

Statkraft has sold Andershaw wind park to Greencoat UK Wind, an investment manager dedicated to renewable energy infrastructure, for NOK 1.4 billion. The wind park has been in operation since 2017, with 11 turbines totalling 36 MW, supplying approximately 26,000 British households. Statkraft aims to invest the money in developing new renewable energy projects of at least 8 GW (Press release). 

Nel ASA receives purchase order for hydrogen filling station in France

Nel Hydrogen Fueling, a division of Nel ASA has received a purchase order for a H2Station hydrogen filling station to be used for light- and heavy fuel cell vehicles in the Tours region in France. According to Nel, the project is to start in 2020 (Q3), with a total value of EUR 1 million, including installation and commissioning (Press release).

Swedish research project develops wind-driven cargo ship

A Swedish research project is developing a cargo ship running on wind power with 90% less CO2 emissions than conventional diesel-powered ships. The research project, Oceanbird, is conducted in a collaborative effort between researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Wallenius Marine and SSPA. Oceanbird has a target to launch the 200 meter long cargo ship by 2025, with claims of having 80 meter high wings and the ability to carry 7,000 vehicles (News Øresund).  

SSAB CO2 emissions the largest in Sweden: “We are definitely not pleased”

SVT revealed its list of 15 companies that together stand for a quarter of all emissions in Sweden – with SSAB topping the list, followed by Cementa and Preem. SSAB was not pleased with the result and alluded to the HYBRIT project which aims to pursue carbon-free steel production, according to Martin Pei, Executive Vice President and CTO at SSAB AB. Over the six past years, SSAB have reduced their CO2 emissions by a meager 0.5% per produced tonne of steel (Teknikdygnet).

Sitra Report: Wind power large contributor to Finland’s climate goals 

In a study published by Sitra, Finland needs to replace fossil fuels with renewable electricity within the industry-, transport-, and heating sector to reach the nation’s climate goals. Most of the electricity demand can be supplied through wind power, which according to the study would see wind power increase to 70% of Finland’s electricity mix by 2050 – compared to 10% in 2020. Sitra’s report also discloses that the annual electricity consumption in Finland would double, reaching almost 170 terawatt hours (Mtvuutiset).  

What we’re reading
  • Malaysia pledges spending, green goals in 5-year economic plan (Reuters)
  • Power crunch threatens Chinese economic growth, warn banks (Financial Times)
  • Adani Group to Invest $20 Billion in Renewable Energy, Foray into Green Hydrogen (Mercom India)
  • Ford plans $11bn electric pick-up truck investment with battery maker SK (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 clip 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.