Mundus Nordic Green News – 19 November, 2020

Nel signs memorandum of understanding on green hydrogen with Iberdrola

Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser, a division within the Norwegian hydrogen company Nel, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Iberdrola, according to a press release. The ambition is for the companies to cooperate in the development of a plant for the production of green hydrogen gas with a capacity of over 200 megawatts in Spain by 2023. Nels’ share rose 6% on the news.

 

Renewcell and H&M Group ramp up textile recycling collaboration

Renewcell and H&M Group have collaborated in various ways since the founding of Renewcell in 2012, from serving as a sounding board for the original idea of ​​industrial textile recycling to H&Ms investment in the Renewcell in 2017. Now Renewcell and H&M Group have entered into a multi-year partnership to replace virgin textile fibres with recycled textiles on a large scale. As a follow-up to the successful launch of Circulose® in the Conscious Exclusive Collection, H&M Group has decided to scale up the use of the recycled material among its brands over a five-year period. 

 

2020 E-prize goes to Absolicon, Heart Aerospace and Enjay

E.ONs E-prize is an innovation competition for smarter energy solutions, rewarding Swedish companies for the most innovative solutions in the categories of renewable energy, sustainable transport and energy efficiency. This year’s winners were.

Renewable energy: Absolicon, Härnösand for their concentrating solar collector that follows the sun during the day, converting sunlight into 160°C pressurized water or steam.

Sustainable transport: Heart Aerospace, Gothenburg for their electric aircraft that can hold about twenty passengers on shorter flights

Energy efficiency: Enjay, Malmö who have enabled profitable energy recovery in a restaurant environment

 

Absolicon is the official supplier of solar heat to the Swedish pavilion at the Host Exhibition Expo 2020 in Dubai, and is and is planning several pilot plants for industrial solar heating in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Mozambique. 

 

Swedish steel and cement industry in focus for climate change funding

Tillväxtverket, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, proposes that the steel industry in the Norrbotten region and the mineral industry in the Gotland region be covered by the funds from the EU's new climate fund, the Fair Adjustment Fund. The money will be invested over the next ten years and help the two regions to sharply reduce their CO2 emissions by 2030. These two regions and industries account for the country's largest carbon dioxide emissions and climate change in these regions requires long-term and large investments.

 

TrønderEnergi becomes Scandinavian Biogas' largest shareholder

The Norwegian energy company TrønderEnergi, which is owned by 24 municipalities in Norway, has become the largest shareholder in Scandinavian Biogas, a leading producer of biogas in the Nordic region. As an industrial owner, TrønderEnergi will contribute with a long-term perspective and support the company's growth ambitions in the biogas market. TrønderEnergi believes that the Swedish market for biogas has great potential

 

Advanced Soltech inks SEK19,65m deal with China

ASRE, a subsidiary of Advanced Soltech, has signed a deal with ZheJiang SenKai New Material to install an 8 MW solar power plant and is anticipated to yield SEK 5.41m annually or SEK108.2m over the 20-year contract. Construction work is planned for 4Q20 and will cost around SEK44.8m.

 

European Energy builds in Lithuania

Danish project developer, European Energy is building three wind farms, 80km north of Vilnius with a total of 121MW. The parks will be built with GE's 5.5 MW turbines. European Energy, has started construction of the first 5.5MW of large wind turbines.

 

Danish wetland agriculture offers large CO2 savings

Denmark’s Climate Council, has concludes that more than 4 million tpa of CO2e can be saved by stopping the drainage of wetlands, a fifth of the 2030 target reduction in order to reach the climate target. This requires the removal of 1,700 km2 (7%) of agricultural land- more than three times as much as previously proposed by the government. The chairman of the Climate Council, Peter Møllgaard, acknowledges that it can be difficult to reach the hoped-for figure, "but the barriers are not insurmountable".

 

Gothenburg develops tougher requirements for construction sites

Work machines currently account for about 20% of the transport sector's greenhouse gas emissions, and according to forecasts, the share will increase to 50% by 2050 if no measures are taken. Therefore, the project Emission-free building and construction sites, which included all the city's construction actors, has agreed recommendations for procurement requirements together with the market. The initiative was overcome a perceived Catch-22 siutaiton, where the market did not see that emission-free work machines, ie machines that run on electricity or hydrogen, were in demand by the customers. And conversely, the customers did not see an available range of this type of machine. On the other hand, everyone agreed that both benefits in terms of profitability for the market, climate benefits and a better local environment for residents and visitors can be seen on the horizon if the change is successful. Recommendations are now in place, and according to Anastazia Kronberg at Business Region Gothenburg, both suppliers and customers now feel that they dare to take the step and make demands on emission-free contracts. Several of the participants in the initiative will now test and develop the requirements in their own procurements. First out is the Port of Gothenburg, which will test the requirements sharply.

 

Denmark’s Bladt Industries partners with American giant

The Aalborg company has entered into an alliance with the large group Burns & McDonnell, an industry leader in the US market for the transmission and supply of high voltage electricity. Together they will supply the U.S. East Coast with components for offshore wind farms. 

 

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