28 September 2022
The Norwegian government proposes large tax package for natural resources
On Wednesday morning, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum held a press conference in Åmot to propose changes to the land rent tax on electricity and water under the fixed price agreement. PM Jonas Gahr Støre said the Government needs to ensure that the value of natural resources must be distributed more equitably than at present. The detailed design will be set out in regulations with a view to implementation on 1 January 2023. The Government believes that the proposals will increase tax revenues by approximately NOK 33 billion per year:
- Increase in basic interest tax on onshore wind power: effective tax rate 40%, annual tax revenue NOK 2.5 billion.
- A 23% surtax on electricity tariffs above NOK 0.70 øre per kWh.
- High price subsidy for wind and hydro power: NOK 16 billion per year.
- Separate high price subsidies for hydro and wind power are also being introduced.
- A basic interest tax on aquaculture: effective rate of 40%, annual tax revenue NOK 3.65-3.8 billion.
The Government has said it wants to take longer-term measures to provide security for Norwegian electricity customers, but NHO Director Ole Erik Almlid has admitted that the Government is introducing a dramatic change in taxation of around NOK 33 billion, on top of the high taxes already imposed on companies.
Hexicon strengthens IP portfolio - TwinWind™ patent granted in the US
Hexicon has patented their technology in the US which relates to the company’s floating platform TwinWind™. The technology optimises energy production in a given sea area by installing two wind turbines on a floating foundation. The wind turbines can be placed in deep water away from the coast, thus coexisting with coastal populations, fisheries and defence forces. Hexicon currently holds TwinWind™ patents in over 20 countries including; Sweden, France, UK, Ireland and Italy. A number of national patents are expected to be granted globally, including in South Africa and Chile. The US patents are particularly positive as the Biden-Harris administration has announced ambitions of 30 gigawatts (GW) of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 110 GW by 2050.
Vestas takes German wind to new heights with the world's tallest wind turbine tower
Wind power OEM Vestas is launching a 199m hub height for its huge new V172-7.2MW turbine, claimed to be the tallest onshore tower in the world. Compared to the turbine manufacturer's V162-6.2MW, it is designed to increase annual electricity production (AEP) by 12%. Vestas says the tower's record stretch height combined with the power of the 7.2MW machine allows the developer to harness stronger, more constant winds than would otherwise be possible. Vestas has teamed up with long-time partner engineering group Max Bögl to develop the concrete-steel hybrid tower, which uses proprietary technology from both companies and will be installed in Germany and Austria in 2025.
ENERGINET to halve connection times for solar parks and wind turbines with temporary power masts and new technical solutions
Energinet, Denmark’s electricity and gas transmission system operator, is now introducing two new, previously unproven technical solutions to the Danish high voltage grid to ensure a faster transition to green energy. Energinet hopes to gain approval from the Danish Supply Agency to be able to run 10 pilot projects across the country. Energinet has examined a portfolio of 40 ongoing projects, 15 of which were assessed as having the potential to come online faster with a new temporary connection solution. In cases where major grid expansion and new high voltage substations are required, connection times can be halved from 4-6 years to 2-3 years. Also, although the current high-voltage grid is completely filled with wind power in several places, it could accommodate more green energy sources such as solar energy. Because wind turbines and solar cells rarely produce maximum power at the same time, Energinet believes its solution is well suited to electricity producers, the grid and society as a whole and to the political ambition of a faster transition to green energy.
Insplorion to focus entirely on hydrogen
In conjunction with the CEO change at the beginning of 2022, a review of Insplorion's business was initiated and the work has been completed. The Board and management have now decided that the company needs to focus more clearly on the business in terms of business positioning and technology development. Insplorion's new strategic focus can be summarised as:
- Focus on hydrogen while maintaining the instrumentation business and de-prioritising areas currently lacking the right technology and market conditions for a pause
- Prove technology and achieve commercial success in customer-funded hydrogen projects
- Accelerate entry into the commercial phase by exploring alternative paths in the form of acquisitions, mergers and partnerships
Biogas plant to be built at Svalbard Airport, Longyearbyen
The Svalbard airport operation accounts for 16% of the total emissions from Avinor's own operations, which is the highest value for a single airport in the Avinor network. Avinor CEO Abraham Foss said the new biogas facility would be the first of its kind on Svalbard and probably the only one of its kind in a comparable area of the world. The high emissions at Svalbard Airport are mainly due to the fact that the energy supply comes from the coal-based Longyear City energy plant. By 2023, the coal-based energy plant at Longyear City will be phased out in favour of an interim diesel solution, but it has not been specified how long and how local the climate-neutral energy supply at Longyear City will take. Avinor itself will therefore be responsible for supplying Svalbard Airport with climate-neutral energy through the establishment of a biogas plant.
BIR tender for processing plant for biogas treatment
BIR AS invited tenders for a biogas processing plant for food waste and animal manure treatment in Bjørkemoen, Voss Herad. The facility is intended to process 15,000 tonnes of food waste from the owner's urban households and manure from local agriculture. This will be the first biogas plant in Vestland to treat household food waste. The tender has been issued for the process engineering part of the facility and there will be a subsequent tender announcement for the construction work when the supplier for the process facility has been decided. The end products of the plant will be biomethane, bioCO2 and agricultural fertiliser.
Saint-Gobain embarks on green drive in Finland
The global Saint-Gobain Group will spend around EUR 1 billion over the next ten years to develop low-emission products and production. Last year, Saint-Gobain's emissions in Finland amounted to 143,000 tonnes per year. About 25% of these emissions are generated by the company's own operations and about 75% indirectly from other sources, such as the manufacture and transport of raw materials. Olli Nikula, CEO of Saint-Gobain Finland says the company has had to increase its use of materials and replace fossil energy with an endless supply of alternatives. The company is replacing fossil fuels by electrifying production and using electricity purchased from renewable sources. Where available, the plant uses biogas instead of natural gas. The use of low-emission raw materials and the minimisation of waste in production also play an important role. At the same time, material recycling contributes significantly to the reduction of carbon emissions. Saint-Gobain is the largest user of recycled glass in Finland and the Isover glass wool insulation produced in Forssa and Hyvinkää contains approximately 60-80% recycled glass. Saint-Gobain says that offsetting is the last resort for achieving carbon neutrality. If emissions remain, they will be compensated by purchasing additional emission rights or by supporting carbon sequestration projects such as afforestation.
What we're reading
- Why crafting an EU gas price cap is taking so long (Financial Times)
- EU Commission approves additional German measures to support electricity production from renewable energy sources (Press release)
- More than 20 countries agree to boost low-emission hydrogen output by 2030 (Channel News Asia)
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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