Nordic Green News for Week 35
Commentary
Welcome back readers. We hope that you found contentment, even amongst the climate-affected Summer.
Mundus is resuming our coverage of the eventful Nordic Green transition, but with some changes. Our coverage will now be weekly, and we are working with the format to optimise depth of coverage on the main stories, followed by easy-to-scan headlines with links for our extended coverage. And, as a new feature in this Commentary section we will provide our summary of our views on what is driving the business and politics of Nordic climate action.
(do share your ideas with us on whether this is an improvement)
The most interesting story this week is the Danish government's investment in creating a CCS industry. CCS is a technology that hasn't gotten far in the last 20 years, and has therefore developed a bad reputation as an excuse not to take other action. But, with time running out, it makes sense to see if ways can be found to bury CO2 economically into old gas reservoirs.
Across the Oresund Strait, the Swedish government continues to attract criticism for its decisions. Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari announced, and then retracted, that Sweden needed to build 10 nuclear power plants, without providing any convincing case that this was so.
Contemporaneously, Sweden's Government received formal replies in response to its proposal to cut, drastically, the biofuels blending obligation - a policy known as "reduktstonsplikt". According to Swedish Radio "almost all" reference bodies that have responded to the government's proposal to lower the reduction obligation to 6% are critical, with many observing that the large reduction in biofuel in petrol and diesel makes it difficult to reach Sweden's and the EU's climate goals. Among the critics are Drivkraft Sweden, whose CEO Jessica Alenius believes that the proposal "pulls the rug out from under our industry", Neste, which says that electrification can not deliver the promised results and Svebio, which says that Swedish bio-project developers are already shelving their plans and that the policy will back Sweden into a corner, forcing it to reduce its forest industries in an effort to meet EU CO2 storage targets.
Main Stories
Demark to provide $3.9bn for new carbon capture and storage projects
Denmark has unveiled an ambitious incentive plan with the objective of accelerating the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The plan entails a government allocation of DKK26.8bn (USD3.9bn) over a span of 15 years for projects capable of capturing and storing 2.3 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually. To achieve this goal, Denmark will initiate a major tender process in 2024, earmarking USD 1.5 billion for investments in projects with a total CCS capacity of 0.9 million tons per year. Subsequently, an additional bidding round in 2025 will allocate the remaining USD 2.4 billion to projects with an annual CCS capacity of 1.4 million tons. For a new CCS project to be eligible for government subsidies under this plan, it must commence operations by 2029.
In a press release, the Climate, Energy and Supply Minister Lars Aagaard said that the plan ensures clear framework conditions for the industry regarding ownership and regulation for the transport of CO2 via pipes. It is a follow-up to the recommendations that the CCS Clusters, which have been set up as part of the overall CCS strategy, have come up with. The Government also proposes to continue with the model with 20% state ownership, giving Danes a share in the profits when our common underground is made available.
Ørsted exits British hydrogen investment
The British Gigastack project, which aimed to establish 100MW electrolysis plants for green hydrogen production, has been put on hold until 2025 due to the need for more project maturity. Ørsted and Phillips 66, the partners in the project, have acknowledged that further development is necessary. This decision comes after the project was not included in the UK's first electrolysis support pool. The partners have withdrawn their bid from the financing process and put the Gigastack project on hold, although they maintain that the work done so far has not been in vain. The project was initially linked to offshore wind farm Hornsea 2, intending to supply green power for electrolysis. The partners emphasise that additional project maturity and supply chain development are needed to fully realise the potential of this large-scale electrolytic hydrogen project.
Northvolt raises funds to continue expansion into Europe and the US
Northvolt has raised USD 1.2 bn dollars in the form of a convertible loan, from asset manager Blackrock and the institutional investor Canada Pension Plan, among others. The investment is a supplement to the USD 1.1 bn dollars that the company took in last summer. "I am proud that our efforts are being noticed by investors, we see great interest from the capital market in our investments," comments Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson. The money will be used for Northvolt's continued expansion in both Europe and the US.
Crown Prince Haakon and PM Støre open Norway’s first offshore wind farm
The inauguration of Norway's inaugural offshore wind farm marks a significant milestone in Norway’s pursuit of sustainable and renewable energy sources. Production from the facility will be able to cover around 35% of the annual need for electricity on the platforms connected to the Gullfaks and Snorre oil and gas fields, under the policy of electrification of Norway’s fossil fuels production.
Eolus Vind undertakes strategic review to take offshore wind power to the next level
Eolus has started a strategic review of its operations in offshore wind power with the aim of creating the best conditions for obtaining permits and realising the projects. Eolus has 9 offshore wind power projects with an estimated capacity of 10,000 MW under development. Eolus is also developing several other sea-based projects that are in the early development phase in Sweden, Finland and the Baltic States. The strategic review includes the possibility of seeking a strategic partner with competence and resources that can contribute to increasing the speed of development and realisation of the sea-based projects. We want to do everything we can to increase the possibility of success for our sea-based projects. Part of this is to ensure that in all areas we have the necessary resources and can maintain a high pace in the development process, says Per Witalisson, CEO at Eolus.
Neste has started a collaboration with Suntory, ENEOS and Mitsubishi Corporation which will enable the production of PET plastic where the renewable Neste RE™ is used on a commercial scale. Neste RE can be used for the production of polymers based on 100% bio-based raw materials, which can replace fossil raw materials in the value chain. Examples of these bio-based raw materials are waste and residual products, for example used cooking oil. Japanese brewing company Suntory will use renewable PET plastic to make bottles for its products in 2024.
Norwegian solar energy company bankrupt
The solar energy company, Norwegian Crystals AS in Glomfjord has declared itself bankrupt and 70 will lose their jobs. The board of Norwegian Crystal says in a press release that they have for a long time sought long-term equity capital to finance the planned expansion. But many different factors have prevented such a solution. Unfortunately, the importance of monocrystalline silicon ingot production, and Glomfjord as a production location, for Norwegian industry and European ambitions for renewable energy, has been recognized too late, the board writes.
News Headlines
Hydrogen
H2Hive is developing a new storage method for hydrogen storage
Smoltek's first patent targeting the green hydrogen industry has been granted
Renewables news
A record number of solar cell installations are being installed in Sweden
Fortum is planning a large-scale solar park in southern Gotland
European Energy unveils biggest solar farm in the Baltics
European Energy is promoting the construction of a Latvian solar park of 115 megawatts
Minesto Completes Testing of Connection Solution for 1.2MW Power Plant Dragon 12
Free2Move Holding AB signs LOI to acquire 100% of NSV-Nordens Solvärme AB
Statkraft: Will not build new hydropower until new tax is removed
Batteries
Windon receives its first major battery order worth SEK 6.7 million
One of Sweden's largest battery warehouses is planned in Knäred
CCS
TotalEnergies buys 40% stake in Norway CO2 storage exploration licence
EVs
Eltel and Kempower sign a Nordic agreement worth 15 million euros
Shipping
Hurtigruten is building electric ships for 2030
Torghatten Nord and GreenH sign 15-year agreement on the supply of hydrogen for Lofoten ferries
Aviation
Pajala aims to become a fossil-free airport
Green Steel
Circular Economy
Borealis invests in new plastics refinery
General
Norway leads in global initiative launched to arrest nature crime
Quarterly reporting
Metacon publishes interim report for the second quarter of 2023
Eolus Vind: Operating profit increased to SEK 517 million
Clean Motion AB interim report for January-June 2023
Green Hydrogen Systems reports rising turnover but increased loss for 1H23
Continued good development for Å Energi
Profit jump for the renewable company Scatec
Rambøll's growth momentum will continue in the first half of 2023
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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