Mundus Nordic Green News – 21 January, 2021

Sweden proposes hydrogen strategy

Today, Fossil Free Sweden released its hydrogen strategy, at an online seminar, which included the Minister of Finance and Housing  Per Bolund, the Minister of Energy, Anders Ygeman, Henrik Henriksson, CEO of Scania and Andreas Regnell, Chairman of the Board of HYBRIT.

 

The event was supported by a wide range of publicity, including an opinion piece in Sweden’s main paper, Dagens Nyheter, by the CEOs of several of Sweden’s leading corporates, including Scania, Vattenfall, SSAB,  LKAB and Siemens Energy and Fossil Free Sweden. The article begins with an implicit acknowledgement that Sweden is a latecomer to hydrogen, due mainly to its previous backing for biofuels. However, that has changed significantly in the last year, especially with the German Presidency of the EU and the Green Deal agreed over summer. The CEOs argue that Sweden’s biofuels strategy is insufficient because there is insufficient biomass to go into it. This demands a hydrogen strategy, where green hydrogen, produced from renewable electricity is explicitly favoured. Green hydrogen has many uses and benefits – from use in the fertilizer, chemicals, steelmaking and transport fuel industries to aviation to acting as a “battery” for Sweden’s power grid.

 

The following measures were proposed;

1. A goal of 3 GW of installed electrolyser capacity by 2030 and at least 8 GW by 2045.
2. Giving Svenska Kraftnät (the grid operator) the task of producing an electricity grid plan which identifies which electricity grids are to be prioritized, with a timetable they should be built by, to enable a rapid expansion of electrolysers.
3. Instructing the Energy Market Inspectorate to create a regulation for hydrogen pipelines that determines the fee level 
4. Instructing the Swedish Energy Agency to make regional calls to develop a number of regional hydrogen clusters.
5. Following the European Commission's call to set a target for offshore electricity generation. Assigning the relevant authorities to establish a national strategy for offshore wind power, similar to hydropower, in order to produce cheap electricity with great production potential when and where it is needed.

 

Amongst other opinions expressed on the day, Sweden’s Centre Party came out supporting a hydrogen strategy. One of the main rationales provided was that the EU was backing this horse, and offering vast subsidies. According to Rickard Nordin, Centre’s energy spokesman, “It's stupid if we do not take the money home. Otherwise, someone else will do it, and then it is they who get the new companies and the new technology.”

 

Mid Sweden (Region Gävleborg) also announced a collaboration between the transport sector, academia and the public sector to lead in the development of an integrated hydrogen society. According to a press release “Mid Sweden is a steel-intensive region with a lot of experience of hydrogen, both for transport and industrial use. Also here is the University of Gävle, which is driving the topic of hydrogen forward in the research world, the Port of Gävle which is developing hydrogen solutions as part of its work to create an energy-optimized port cluster and the Inlandsbanan (the inland railway) which is both electrifying the transport system and plans for large-scale distribution of hydrogen.”

 

Danish climate aid overstated

According to a government audit, Denmark has little idea how its billion-dollar climate support schemes works. Last Friday, Denmark’s National Audit Office published a report, whose conclusion was that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Energy have a limited basis for assessing whether Denmark's climate assistance is best suited to helping developing countries reduce their CO2 emissions and adapting to climate change.

 

Nel outlines grand hydrogen vision

In connection with its capital market day today, Nel ASA set a new, ambitious goal: to produce green hydrogren at $1.5 per kilo by 2025. At that level Nel says green hydrogen will outcompete fossil fuel options, for example petrol and diesel. According to Jon André Løkke, Chief Executive Officer of Nel, Nel is central to this transition, representing one of the most significant achievements for zero-emission solutions and a carbon neutral planet,”

 

Central to this mission, Nel is expanding the electrolysis production to accommodate large-scale projects by constructing a fully automated manufacturing facility at Herøya, Norway. Test production of the first 500 MW production line will commence in the second quarter of 2021 with start of commercial ramp-up in the third quarter of 2021.

 

Lyse invests in Blueday Technology

Lyse has become a major investor in Blueday Technology, as part of a larger financing together with existing shareholders and Sparebank1 SR-Bank. According to Lyse, “This is a strategic investment in line with Lyse's goal of enabling the all-electric society. Blueday Technology has a unique competence in comprehensive electrification solutions and we have an industrial approach to further develop this competence.” Blueday has recently landed a major contract with the Port of Oslo to contribute to emission reductions. By 2030, the port will reduce emissions by 85 percent and become emission-free in the long run. They have also provided electrification solutions to the oil, shipping and aquaculture industries.

 

Confusion reigns in Sweden over EU taxonomy rules

According to Dagens industri, a leadíng Swedish business daily, a communication failure has affected the Swedish introduction of the EU taxonomy. When the new EU taxonomy is introduced next year, a number of companies will be forced to report the proportion of their capital investments (CAPEX) and operating costs (OPEX) that are classified as sustainable. A majority of the Swedish financial industry has been of the opinion that Sweden has chosen to implement a tougher taxonomy regulation than the rest of the EU by setting the limit for companies with more than 250 employees, instead of 500 employees like the rest of the EU. However, the Minister of Financial Markets, Per Bolund, clarified that this was not the case. Sweden has generally been negative towards the proposal, which it might be surmised is partly due to smaller players feeling that they will be swept up in something that they do not understand.

 

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