The company H2 Green Steel, which aims to produce steel without carbon by using hydrogen produced by fossil free electricity from water and wind, has received more funding to continue its operations. In the first part of the B round of financing, the company has received SEK 2 billion, with the two largest investors being the pensions company AMF and the equity company Altor. In July, the company was given permission to start construction work where the factory is to be located. The second part of the B round of financing, scheduled in 2023, is predicted to “…take us all the way to the major construction phase,” says CEO Henrik Henriksson.
The Danish Government has reached an agreement with the Liberal Party, the Social People's Party, Radikale Venstre, Enhedslisten, Det Konservative Folkeparti, Dansk Folkeparti, the Liberal Alliance and Alternativet to increase the capacity of the Energy Island by 1 GW, which is expected to continue to be fully operational. When fully developed, it will generate 10 GW of green electricity, said to be enough for 10 million European households. The Energy Island will serve as a port and service base for the new wind farm. Its closer proximity to the UK means that wind power can be more easily distributed between several countries. The Danish Government will have at least 50.1% of the shares in Energy Island, with the rest held by private participants.
In addition, the agreement between Denmark and Germany involves a new type of cooperation, whereby Germany will have access to green electricity production through a new cable between Bornholm and Germany. The energy island could provide enough electricity for 4.5 million German households and contribute to less dependency on Russian energy. Bornholm is one of two energy islands planned in Denmark for a major expansion of offshore wind power, with the goal of increasing Denmark's offshore wind production fivefold by the end of 2030.
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Danish energy company Ørsted has purchased its first solar project in Ireland from Terra Solar. The solar project will be built in Cork in the south of the island. The plant is expected to be operational in 2025 and will have a capacity of 65 MW. The plant is expected to provide green energy for a total of 16,000 Irish families. Ørsted aims to build a portfolio that is half wind and half solar by 2030. It has also recently entered the solar market in Germany and France.
Rambøll, the global architect, engineering and consulting company, has had a successful year in 2022, which was the starting point for a new business strategy with a comprehensive focus on sustainability. Turnover in the first half of 2022 increased by 10.4% to DKK 7.9 billion. EBITA increased by DKK 35 million to DKK 373.8 million. Organic growth of 8.3% was the highest in 10 years. Rambøll CEO Jens-Peter Saul said that the company's sustainable services are in particularly high demand in the areas of green energy and Power-to-X, sustainable buildings and working with customers on sustainable transition strategies. By 2025, Rambøll expects to have a turnover of more than DKK 17 billion and employ more than 20,000 people. The majority of these new employees are expected to come from organic growth in sustainable services and acquisitions. The company's entire portfolio will be focused on sustainability, with the aim of making Rambøll the leading global consultancy for green energy transition.
Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor has purchased three proposed offshore wind farms in New South Wales as part of its plan to shift to renewable energy and become a net-zero energy company by 2050. The deal has been struck with Australian developer OceanEx. The developer is looking to develop three offshore wind projects of up to 2GW each off the coast of Newcastle, Illawarra and Eden. OceanEx was founded by the two founders of the Gippsland-based Southern Star project, which will be the first designated offshore wind zone in Australia. The Hunter and Illawarra regions of New South Wales are expected to be the next two offshore wind zones to be announced. The NSW Government this week noted that 12GW of the 17GW of proposed capacity in the new Illawarra Renewable Energy Zone is from offshore wind project proposals. OceanEx said the two companies intend to submit feasibility permit applications for offshore wind acreage in these areas once the relevant declared areas are announced by the federal government. These feasibility studies are large deals that will cost around USD 200 million each, so the project needs a financially strong partner, and Oceanex thinks Equinor is the ideal partner to take its project forward.
Tapojärvi, a Finnish company founded in 1955 and specialising in processing and recycling services for materials from the mining and steel industries, has received a EUR 18 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The main objective with the loan is to reduce the environmental impact of the steel industry and to promote the development of a circular economy and innovative processes. The EIB financing is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), which is a key part of the European Investment Programme. The loan will be used for Tapojärvi's innovative slag processing and utilisation plant in Umbria, Italy. The project also includes an initial testing and commissioning phase. The steel slag is converted into a reusable by-product, thereby reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. This reduces the consumption of natural resources and raw materials and in this way the project promotes a circular economy and helps to reduce the environmental footprint of polluting industries.
Saipem and Quantafuel ASA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate in the industrialisation and construction of chemical recycling plants for waste plastics based on Quantafuel technology. The MoU positions Saipem for the global market and the construction of an industrial plant specialising in pyrolysis under a Quantafuel technology licence. In addition, Saipem will provide intelligent and smart operations and maintenance services, as well as a joint performance guarantee for the plant issued jointly by the two companies. Through its partnership with Quantafuel, Saipem will offer one of the first modular concepts for the circular economy worldwide and support its customers' sustainability paths with the plastics recycling solution. Quantafuel will strengthen its project implementation capabilities globally and add a licensing approach to its existing business plan for building, owning and operating pyrolysis plants, thus creating further opportunities for commercialisation of its technology.
Eolus Vind stated net sales of SEK 1,448 million. Operating profit amounted to SEK 220 million and profit before tax amounted to SEK 221 million. During the period, Eolus and Hydro REIN signed an agreement for the sale of a 75% stake in the Stor-Skälsjön wind power project to MEAG. At the same time, Eolus signed an agreement with DalaVind AB to increase its ownership in the Fageråsen wind power project to 49%. Besides, Eolus secured financing of SEK 1,500 million by signing credit agreements with Swedbank for a total of SEK 1,200 million and extending the credit agreement with Svensk Exportkredit to SEK 300 million.
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.