8 February 2023
Equinor: 2022 annual report
Equinor reported adjusted earnings of almost USD 75 billion for 2022, although its reported net profit for the year was only $28.7 billion. The adjusted earnings were more than double its previous record. Equinor expects to pay USD 50 billion of taxes on its results - which will be a phenomenal outcome for the Norwegian state. Amongst its oil supermajor peers, ExxonMobil made USD55 billion, Shell USD 40 billion and others less.
“Equinor is uniquely positioned to provide energy and contribute to decarbonisation, while delivering strong returns," states Equinor’s annual report. The energy company will do this by investing in “resilient projects within oil and gas, renewables, and low carbon solutions.” The company’s production of renewable energy was 517 GWh in the fourth quarter, down 2% from the same quarter in 2021. Its floating offshore wind farm, Hywind Tampen, also generated power for the first time in 2022 and the largest offshore farm, Dogger Farm, is ready to start production in 2023. The portfolio of projects within renewables is progressing well towards the ambition of 12-16 GW of installed capacity accessed by 2030 and expects project base returns of 4-8%.
Vattenfall: 2022 annual report
Vattenfall says that due to the mild winter, electricity and gas prices were not as high as expected. However, Anna Borg, the CEO of Vattenfall points out that we still need to get through the next winter and there is still risk for high and volatile electricity and gas prices. Moreover Vattenfall reports that in 2022 they had a loss of SEK 24 billion compared to a profit of SEK 7.8 billion. The loss is due to previous electricity and fuel contracts being continually reported based on current market value.
Press Release, SvD Näringsliv, Sydsvenskan
Danish developer European Energy stops offshore wind project
Yesterday Nordic Green News reported that Danish authorities have put on hold all processing of offshore projects under the open-door scheme, due to the discovery of a potential discrepancy between EU laws and the open-door scheme. The new interpretation is that the Danish state is giving illegal state aid, in giving away the seabed for free.
Already this has caused a project in Frederikshavn to be stopped indefinitely. The planned offshore wind farm was to become an international test centre for the latest offshore wind turbines and consisted of only five turbines. European Energy, the developer behind the project, had been working on it for 11 years and had received an establishment permit last year.
The CEO of European Energy, fears the delay of the project will damage Denmark’s reputation as a safe haven for investments and hurt investor confidence. The company's foreign business partners are already criticising the decision to stop the wind project.
ZeroPoint Technologies receives €3.2 million to reduce energy consumption of digitalization
ZeroPoint Technologies announced on Tuesday that it closed a €3.2 million seed round, from climate tech investor Climentum Capital, Nordic VC Industrifonden, Chalmers Ventures, and present shareholders, to finance the company in 2023 and beyond. ZeroPoint Technologies provides a technology that can reduce the energy consumption of data centres by more than 25%. The new capital will be used to grow and expand the company’s international presence and take new products to market. ZeroPoint claims its technology can drastically increase the energy efficiency of servers, delivering up to 50% more performance per watt by removing unnecessary information from the memory.
Swedish Liquid Wind submits green electrofuel plant application
Liquid Wind’s FlagshipTWO project aims to further sustainability in the shipping industry by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting the use of clean energy sources. It aims to do this by producing green electrofuel for ships, as a substitute for fossil fuel. Green electrofuel is produced using green hydrogen and CO2, contributing to carbon capture. Liquid Wind has now submitted an application for an environmental permit for a second green electrofuel plant in Sundsvall, which will reduce CO2 emissions by 283,000 tonnes annually.
Brewery in Greece expects to reduce emissions with Swedish solar collector Absolicon
Absolicon has successfully installed solar thermal collectors at Carlsberg Group’s Olympic Brewery in Greece. The brewing industry requires a lot of heat for production and Absolicon’s technology provides a sustainable heat solution. Carlsberg Group’s brewery requires three times more heat than electricity. Moreover, by using heat produced from the sun instead of natural gas, Carlsberg expects to save around 70 tonnes of CO2 emission during a one-year pilot project.
Swedish Powercell to finalise world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell
Fuel cell company Powercell has signed a letter of intent to finalise terms for one of the world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell projects in the marine industry in northern Norway. The project is led by the Norwegian electricity integrator SEAM, and entails two ferries for passenger and freight transport that will be powered by hydrogen gas used in fuel cells.
Norwegian TECO 2030 launches hydrogen fuel cell project
TECO 2030 has started a 3-year project, known as HyEkoTank, to retrofit six 400 kW Fuel Cell Modules in a container solution. The project’s end goal is for the container solution to eliminate emissions during ship voyage and at port. The HyEkoTank project is supported by the EU, Shell and its partners. The EU has been granted EUR 5 million to the project under the European funding scheme HORIZON EUROPE. Shell will purchase the fuel cell system and provide renewable hydrogen as fuel.
Swedish GRK Infra AB receives largest contract in its history in Sweden
GRK Infra AB, the Swedish subsidiary of GRK Group, has been awarded a contract worth over EUR 200 million from H2 Green Steel to carry out the foundation and earthworks for its new hydrogen and steel plant in Boden, Sweden.
New Finnish wind power project
Tornion Tuulivoima Oy, a subsidiary of Finnish Smart Windpower Oy, is planning to build around ten wind turbines in the Rovavaara area in Finland. The turbines will have a height of approximately 300 metres and generate 7-10 megawatts of power.
What we're reading
- IEA claims power sector set for 2025 ‘tipping point’ on emissions (Financial Times)
- The real obstacle to nuclear power - the nuclear industry (The Atlantic)
- Rishi Sunak breaks up UK business department to refocus on energy and science (Financial Times)
- European wind industry attacks ‘absurd’ Danish halt to approvals (Financial Times - see yesterday’s Nordic Green News)
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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