9 November 2022
CEO of LKAB: Sweden can become the China of Europe
LKAB has announced their acquisition of the Norwegian company REEtec for NOK 400 million. The Norwegian company has developed innovative technology for separating rare earth metals and together the two companies will build a factory for this in Heroya, Norway. Currently, China dominates this sector, accounting for 60% of the global mining of rare metals and 85% in refining them. The demand for rare earth metals is expected to increase more than fivefold by 2030, primarily for the production of electric vehicles and wind power stations and Europe is currently dependent on China in this regard, a relationship that has been pointed out as a geopolitical threat by both the EU and Sweden. The CEO of LKAB, Jan Moström, believes that he will eventually be able to counter China’s low-cost products: “…with increasing electrification, demand will rise sharply. Then we are quite convinced that the price levels will rise and make it more profitable to mine and refine this product in Europe. Moström also hopes that the EU will include rare earth metals in the climate tariffs - Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, CBAM - which are currently being negotiated in Brussels. The technology that LKAB will use to refine its ore emits 90% lower carbon dioxide emissions than the technology used in China. In the long term, he sees the possibility for the Nordic region producing the end product itself.
Ørsted CEO open to sharing profits from new offshore wind projects with Danish state
In a full-throttle fight for green power production, Ørsted's CEO Mads Nipper is open to letting the Danish state get a share of the profits from four new large-scale offshore wind farms. This was announced by Nipper on 8 November at COP27 Egypt. Here he took part in a press conference on a major expansion of the Danish offshore wind cooperation, the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA).
The four offshore wind farms are to be built by Ørsted together with the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partnership. With a total capacity of 5.2 GW, these parks will more than double the capacity of Danish offshore wind, and the first power could be delivered in 2027. The two companies will build the offshore wind parks without state aid, but the projects are struggling to gain approval. Nipper therefore said the door is open for the Danish state to share in any profits. At the same time, he stressed that he is only prepared to pay the state if the project is successful, as the risks here are much greater than they were with Thor. Thor is Ørsted’s low-risk model and means that the company takes on both the developer's risk and the buyer's risk.
Solar developer Alight scales up - DIF Capital Partners invests €150 million
DIF Capital Partners invests EUR 150 million in Stockholm-based Alight, a developer of unsubsidized solar projects in Northern Europe, and will thus acquire a majority stake in the company. Alight will use the funds to expand its pipeline of solar facilities. Alight will do this by building long-term ownership of projects and facilitating the transition to independent power producers. Alight has a strong presence in the Nordic solar industry by offering solar power purchase agreements to large commercial and industrial power users. Alight has established itself in the Nordic solar market and has developed several of Sweden's largest solar parks as well as multiple solar installations. This investment will make it possible for Alight to accelerate the expansion of new solar projects in Northern Europe and throughout Europe. In October, Alight announced that Sweden's largest co-located solar plus storage facility will be completed in December at its 12 MW solar park in Linköping. Alight develops and operates Sweden's largest solar park, an 18 MW plant in Skurup.
EQT founder's new venture - half a billion SEK on hydrogen
EQT founder Conni Jonsson is set to break the hydrogen expansion logjam. Jonsson is the majority shareholder of REH2, a company that will build a complete network of hydrogen vehicle charging stations at a cost of more than half a billion SEK. The only five hydrogen stations currently available in Sweden are not enough for drivers to dare to invest, and as long as there is no demand for them, it is not economically viable to build them. But now REH2 will spend at least SEK 500 million to build a network that will cover at least the southern half of Sweden. Environmental permits are currently being applied for, and Conni Jonsson says a total of 24 stations will be built. The first will be ready by the end of next year and will run until 2025. The hydrogen will not be delivered to the stations, but will be produced in electrolysis tanks at each location. REH2 has also signed an agreement with the road construction chain Rasta to cooperate.
Equinor and Hitachi sign electrification cooperation agreement
Norwegian energy company Equinor and Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi Energy have signed a strategic cooperation agreement in electrification, renewable energy generation and CO2 emissions reduction. The initial area of cooperation is the development of standard designs for power transmission systems to connect offshore wind power from Equinor's production facilities to the continental grid. The first phase of the collaboration involves the parties developing standardised basic designs for high-voltage transmission systems for both DC and AC.
Norsk Hydro and Commerzbank invest EUR 600 million in a solar project in Denmark
Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro, together with Commerzbank, has decided to invest EUR 600 million in a solar project in Denmark. The investment is being made by subsidiaries Hydro Rein and Commerz Real who have formed a joint venture in which they each own half of the shares. The new joint venture has agreed to purchase and develop two solar projects in Jutland from Greengo Energy. The two solar projects, with an estimated peak capacity of 170 MW and 192 MW respectively, are expected to start construction in 2024 and be commissioned in early 2026. According to Hydro Rein and Commerz Real, they have a common ambition to reach a portfolio of 1 GW in Denmark.
Støre pledges Norway will meet climate targets
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in a speech at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh that Norway will meet its climate commitments and will, among other things, double the climate finance for poorer countries within four years. Norway is also prepared to triple its support to ensure that poorer countries can adapt to climate change. He also argued for the need to tackle climate change and the loss of natural diversity at the same time and referred, among other things, to Norway's efforts to prevent deforestation in the world's rainforests. Støre also mentioned the Green Shipping Challenge, which he launched on 7 November together with US climate envoy John Kerry. Støre also launched a project with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to produce green hydrogen, the first of its kind in Egypt. But Støre has also been met with scepticism by some organisations, and the elected leader of Friends of the Earth Norway, Truls Gulowsen, thinks Norway is not on track to meet its climate targets and needs new, strong measures to achieve a fair transition.
Statkraft signs long-term power agreement with Norske Skog for paper mill
Statkraft and Norske Skog have signed a new long-term industrial power agreement for the period 2024 to 2030 for Norske Skog's paper mill in Skogn. The power agreement is a key factor in ensuring the long-term competitiveness of the Skogn mill, which is a producer of newsprint and magazine paper and consumes a lot of electricity. Statkraft has been Norske Skog's main electricity supplier for many years. Previously, Norske Skog Skogn and Norske Skog Saugbrugs signed an electricity agreement with an annual delivery volume of approximately 900 GWh, which expires in 2026.
Hafslund and Eidsiva invest in Over Easy Solar AS
Hafslund and Eidsiva have invested in Over Easy Solar AS, which produces solar modules specifically adapted to the needs of green and flat roof areas and is committed to increasing the penetration of solar energy systems in buildings.
Scatec launches hydropower branch project in Egypt
Renewable energy company Scatec has launched a hydroelectric offshoot project in Egypt. The plant in Ain Sokhna, outside Cairo, is a partnership between Scatec, Fertiglobe, Orascom and the Egyptian National Investment Fund to develop a 100 MW green hydrogen plant. It will reduce emissions from agriculture, transport and heavy industry. When the project is fully developed, it will be powered by a separate solar and wind power plant. This will be the first integrated green hydrogen scheme in Africa. The project was launched on 9 November at the UN Climate Summit in Egypt with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoll and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Extreme heat hits the Nordics this weekend
In most of Northern Europe, temperatures could reach 12 to 16 degrees warmer than normal this weekend. The average temperature in Denmark in November is 5.5 degrees, but it is currently very far from that. The average temperature for the first eight days of the month was 10.7 degrees, thus above normal. Temperatures will reach around 15 degrees at the start of the weekend, when it will be the warmest.
COP27
China pumps out more pollution in eight years than UK since Industrial Revolution (The Telegraph).
UN urges Mark Carney-led climate initiative to meet higher standards
Mark Carney’s “net zero” coalition of more than 500 financial institutions is among the private sector climate initiatives that must maintain tighter standards, according to a UN report into corporate greenwashing. Companies could not claim to be net zero while they continue to build or invest in new fossil fuel assets and decarbonisation plans must not support new coal, oil and gas supplies, concluding that “Net zero is entirely incompatible with continued investment in fossil fuels.” (Financial Times)
Industry coalition pledges $12 billion to boost use of low carbon tech in hard to abate sectors
The First Movers Coalition, a global initiative launched last year to spur the decarbonisation of heavy industry and the long-distance transport sector, has expanded its coverage into two new energy-intensive sectors and will allocate $12 billion in green technology purchase commitments, US climate envoy John Kerry and the World Economic Forum announced on Tuesday (World Economic Forum).
Sweden to lay bare new government’s emission-increasing plans at COP27
Sweden’s new right-wing government is set to present its new climate ambitions at COP27 this week, which show not only reduced goals, but an increase in CO2 emissions. “It is, of course difficult not to be able to show tighter results,” Minister of Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari said in SVT’s live broadcast on the occasion of COP27, adding, however that “the world is doing badly in achieving its climate goals – but the EU is not.” (Euractiv)
What we're reading
- Poland to slow coal phase-out process, maintains 2049 end-date (Euractiv)
- China pumps out more pollution in eight years than UK since Industrial Revolution (The Telegraph)
- Europe should not be complacent on energy security (Financial Times)
- Broad ESG funds lose out to ‘greener’ vehicles in Europe (Financial Times)
- UK’s green hydrogen ambitions fail to deliver (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 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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