Mundus Nordic Green News – 8 February, 2021

Strong year for Nordic cleantech investments

Despite the pandemic, nvestments in the Nordic cleantech sector increased by 33% in 2020 to EUR 1,836 million. More than 70% of the invested capital went to Swedish companies, especially the battery-powered Northvolt, the oat drink company Oatly and clothes recycler, Renewcell. In total, the three companies raised almost EUR 800 million, according to an annual summary from Cleantech Scandinavia. The fastest growing sectors in cleantech right now are foodtech, with a plethora of companies focused on new protein sources, logistics and mobility as well as sharing economy, according to Magnus Agerström, CEO of Cleantech Scandinavia. “We see more companies close to consumers than before. But electrification and new materials are also two hot sectors,” he says.

 

Cold weather reawakens energy politics

The prevailing winter weather and the closure of the Ringhals 1 nuclear reactor have led to a shortage of electricity in Sweden. The issue is exacerbated by a correlation between cold weather and windless days in winter. In otherwords, there is less power generated, just when Sweden needs it most. To cover the need, Sweden is forced to import electricity from coal-fired power plants in other EU countries. Sweden’s opposition leader, Ulf Kristersson strode into the debate, pointing at extemely expensive power prices, and the need for an old oil burning plant to be switched on. The Moderate Party, and other opposition parties are demanding the reinstatement of Sweden’s nuclear power generation program.

 

Simon-Erik Ollus, Head of Fortum's electricity trading and production also commented, saying that the Nordic energy market suffered from the wrong incentives, and it was unlikely that sufficient capital would be attracted to invest in being a reliable grid for future years. He sees “two alternative ways forward. Either a gradually regressions towards more and more national electricity markets in the Nordic region, where the Nordic electricity market will become a residual of increasingly powerful national governance, via various tools. This would be a sharp step backwards in Nordic co-operation. It also jeopardizes a cost-effective climate change due to its national character with much sub-optimization within the Nordic region. Or we raise the level of ambition and formalize a regional governance of the Nordic electricity market, with the ambition to ensure that the Nordic electricity market supports the national climate, energy and business policy goals.

 

Agder Energi and HitecVision enter into a partnership

Agder Energy and HitecVision are in the process of assessing several possible industrial initiatives. Steffen Syvertsen, CEO of Agder Energi said “We believe in thinking big early. The partnership with HitecVision is an alliance  between expertise and capital, where the companies' strengths complement each other. Agder Energi is owned 54% by the municipalities in Agder and Statkraft which owns the balance. HitecVision is a leading provider of institutional capital to Europe’s energy industry,

 

EU taxonomy proposal reducing investments into forestry worries Sweden

The European Commission’s proposal to remove large swathes of forest from the list of sustainable investments has worried Swedish lawmakers and industry representatives, which in turn have begun a lobbying campaign to turn the tides of opinion. If the European Commission’s proposal comes to pass, investments into forestry would lose their status as environmentally sustainable, something that worries Magnus Berg at the industry organisation Skogsindustrierna. “The purpose of this proposal is to manage capital, it is therefore conceivable that it would affect willingness to invest in the Swedish forest industry and Swedish forestry in the long run,” said Berg. The European Commission’s proposal is also in stark contrast with the forestry debate in Sweden. A final decision from the European Commission on what can be counted as green investments is expected in the spring, but according to Christian Danielsson, head of the European Commission’s Sweden office, hope remains for Sweden to influence the coming policies. “I think they will look very carefully at the views that have come from Sweden, in that Sweden and Finland are so large and have such long experience of sustainable forestry,” explained Danielsson, noting that the European Commission may not have considered the full scope of the Nordic regions’ expansive forests.

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