Details of plans for the Murchison Hydrogen Renewables project have been released. The huge project, initially proposed by Hydrogen Renewables Australia in 2019, is now being led by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partnersto produce renewable hydrogen and ammonia for domestic and export uses. For the renewable energy component, the facility will install roughly 1.5 GW of solar panels and approximately 700 onshore wind turbines with an installed capacity of 3.7 GW. For the green hydrogen and ammonia components, the project will include a PtX plant that will use solar and wind energy to create 2 MW of green ammonia, which expects to require a total electrolyser capacity of 3 GW. The PtX plant is also expected to have a 250 MW-350 MW battery and possess the ability to store up to 680 tonnes of hydrogen.
On 29 April, Mundus Nordic Green News reported that the battery company Polarium has begun the operation of its new factory in South Africa. Four days later, the company announced that it had secured a financial support of SEK 955 million from the Swedish pension fund AMF and was thus valued at USD 1 billion. With that, Sweden has got itself another unicorn. With the new investment, Polarium continues to fill its ownership group with reputable names, which now includes, among others, AMF, Vargas Holding, Roosgruppen and Beijer Ventures.
LKAB has chosen Luleå as the location for its new circular industrial park, which will receive apatite concentrate that has been recovered from Kiruna and Gällivare. The facility in Luleå will dissolve the apatite concentrate and separate phosphorus, earth metals and fluorine. “We have evaluated several locations in Sweden and Norway for the location of the circular industrial park. Luleå offers good logistics, sufficient land space, electricity, lower costs, a good labour and housing market, and not least, synergies with our existing operations”, said Leif Boström, CEO of the Special Products business area at LKAB.
The company is now initiating consultations for the establishment, which will be put into operation in 2027, involve investments of up to SEK 10 billion, and create more than 500 jobs.
Together with the engineering company Sandvik, Altris will build a factory for the proprietary cathode material Fennac, which is used in sodium-ion batteries. That the choice fell on Sandviken is due to Sandvik’s long experience of production in combination with the existing infrastructure. The production will start at the beginning of next year and hold a production capacity of 2000 tonnes, which is enough for batteries corresponding to 1 GWh.
The Nordic Ministers for the Climate and Environment have agreed that the countries will work together to establish green corridors for emission-free shipping between the ports in the Nordic Region. The agreement follows the Clydebank Declaration from the 2021 climate summit in Glasgow. The work will be led by DNV and the project has been granted DKK 1 million. “Together we have the resources and technology to really lead the way with a project that can showcase the potential for green shipping to the whole world”, said Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s Minister for Climate and Environment.
The Chinese company Xpeng has selected Skellefteå as its European location to test its flying electric cars in a harsh climate. The vehicle, which has room for two passengers and is able to fly for approximately 40 minutes and at a speed of 130 km, has already been tested extensively in China. In just over a year, the Chinese flying car can be tested at the airport in Skellefteå.
Nel ASA has been elected as the technology provider for EverWind Fuel’s Point Tupper project in Nova Scotia for a potential 200 MW electrolyser facility. The green hydrogen produced at the site is expected to help provide green fuel for Nova Scotia and support carbon emissions reduction by over 1 million tonnes by 2025. By 2030, the project could reduce domestic and international carbon emissions by more than 4 million tonnes per year. The Point Tupper project is estimated to be put into operation in 2025.
Novozymes, a world leader in biological solutions, has signed a collaboration agreement with Saipem, the technological and engineering platform, for the development of innovative solutions for enzymatic carbon capture. Saipem will be responsible for providing process, mechanical and equipment design and Novozymes will provide enzymes while further optimising the process through enzymes innovation.
Enersense International Oyj, the implementer of emission-free energy solutions, plans to build a 20 MW solar power plant in Mäntyluoto, Pori. A study of the project is currently underway and an investment decision will be made at a later date. The size of the investment is estimated at EUR 10-12 million. The solar power plant would be located on the same site as Enersense Offshore Oy, which already specialised in offshore wind power.
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.