Nordic Green News – 11 August, 2020

Leadership change at Equinor creates further potential for renewal

Further to yesterday’s news that Anders Opedal had been appointed as the next CEO of Equinor, Norwegian and foreign media looked at the past record and future direction of Norway’s oil major. According to NTB, the Norwegian News Agency, Opedal is a strong leader, supported by both the unions and the government, and nautrally Equinor’s Board. According to E24, Opedal wants "to take this [Equinor’s carbon targets] further. I want to increase my ambitions and strengthen the pace of implementation … I am willing to reallocate capital to make this happen.”

 

The Financial Times gave a glowing write-up to Eldar Saetre, outgoing CEO, who it credited with delivering total returns of 250% to shareholders in his 6 years, far exceeding the MSCI All Country energy benchmark, and blitzing the performance of rivals such as BP and Total over the last year. According to Bernstein, an analyst group, green energy should provide 4% of Equinor’s operating cash flow by 2025, rising to 10% by 2030. Most will come from wind power, which, if delivered by 2025 should generate as much as Danish specialist Orsted does today.

 

Vårtland, writes “Sætre should be praised for transforming an industrial mastodon where climate skepticism was thick on the walls, into a company that speaks loudly about its responsibility, innovation and the world's battle against the clock.” Nonetheless, it also says “in recent years, Sætre and the company have lagged behind. The goal of Equinor using 15% of its investment funds for renewable projects by 2030 is an overly flimsy goal. We are talking about a change that must take place faster, be braver and more binding. Compared with companies such as BP, Repsol and Eni… Equinor needs someone to speed up the energy transition. Opedal has made a promising start”

 

Increased electricity exports require a stronger national electricity grid

The limits of Sweden’s ability to produce and export renewable electricity have been reached. Although Sweden has great resources for hydro and wind production in its north, the electricity can not be delivered to potential markets in Germany or Poland, due to limits on north-south transmission.

 

The lack of transmission capacity has also become increasingly apparent through the decommissioning of nuclear reactors in southern Sweden. And the price of power in the north is now less than half of that in the south, because the current cant flow. But the technical needs are complex, as new electricity production mainly consists of new wind power in the north, and some of the future large demands for power are also being made in the north, in particular, the Northvolt plant. Further work is required to study this.

 

Tetra Pak signs strategic agreement with Lund University

Tetra Pak and Lund University have signed a five-year strategic cooperation agreement, which will strengthen their long-term cooperation in packaging materials, packaging logistics and food technology. The aim is to develop and strengthen skills and education in various focus areas with the ambition to promote innovations for sustainable products, companies and societies. According to Torbjörn von Schantz, Rector of Lund University, "academics and industry need to work closely to solve today's complex challenges in society, such as sustainability, which is the basis for this collaboration". According to Tetra Pak, the work will focus on areas such as circular and bio-based economics.

 

Danish expo highlights circular design

28 Danish brands and designers will exhibit their bids for circular designs at the exhibition in Copenhagen in September. The Lifestyle & Design Cluster has a mission to focus international attention on the many Danish companies that work seriously with the green transition. The expo will include a number of panel debates and lectures on circular business models, blockchain and transparency in the value chain, financing / investment in the green transition and public procurement.

 

Half of Finnish investors are unfamiliar with their climate risk

According to a new study by S-Bank, the vast majority of Finnish investors consider gas companies, oil companies and coal-based energy companies to be less attractive investment targets. And more than 60% of respondents believe that climate change should be taken into account in their investments simply because it makes economic sense. In the spring S-Bank launched a new fund, under the name FIM Fossil-Free Europe ESG and S-Fund Fossil-Free Europe, investing in European listed companies with an emphasis on companies that are in a good position as societies move towards a low-carbon phase.

---