More than 60% of Sweden’s energy needs are met by renewable sources, primarily hydroelectricity (but also wind). It can also produce for a very low cost due to the year-round, vast availability of moving water. And that is the essential component for manufacturing affordable green hydrogen.
The embargo has been lifted in order to grow this sector. All nations aspire to be project leaders, and the Scandinavians have numerous opportunities to do so. In light of this, the Swedish embassy in Spain invited individuals in charge of the country’s energy and industrial sectors to the conference ‘Green Hydrogen REPowers UE’.
According to individuals from the industrial sector who attended the event, “In Spain, we are convinced that, as the country of the sun, our photovoltaic generation will allow us to produce inexpensive green hydrogen, but the Nordic countries compete with much cheaper water than our sun.”
The same sources say, “Sweden, furthermore, is one of the great industrial giants in Europe, second only to Germany, and has made a strong commitment to decarbonization.
According to a report by the Institute for Economic Studies (IEE), Sweden has a robust industrial sector that contributes 34% of the country’s GDP. International competition in the engineering, mining, steel, and paper industries is demonstrated by firms like Ericsson, ASEA/ABB, SKF, Alfa Laval, AGA, and Dyno Nobel.
In any production process, notably in the industrial sector, which needs to be decarbonized but cannot be done with renewable power, green hydrogen is proposed as the best replacement for natural gas.
The sources go on to say, “You need iron and scrap, as well as carbon for the process, to manufacture steel. The Swedish envoy has already informed the Spanish steel manufacturers that they can provide them with “green” iron, which is extracted using renewable energy and would allow them to produce “green” steel immediately.
The nation boasts the best renewable energy resources and the largest reserves of iron ore in all of Europe, which are two essential ingredients for producing green hydrogen and decarbonized crude steel.
Your own industry can thus do it if it is not already done in Spain. In reality, according to Wood Mackenzie, Sweden has demonstrated the ability to lead the way in the manufacture of green steel. To produce 10 Mt of crude steel yearly by 2030, he has separately initiated at least two projects by HYBRIT and H2 Green Steel.
In the case of fertilizers, the initiative is being developed on Scandinavian soil by the Spanish company Fertiberia. During the occasion, the company’s CEO, Javier Goi, said that “Two years ago we signed an agreement with the government of the Norrbotten region (Sweden) to develop the first 100% green and emissions-free ammonia and fertilizer plant in the world.”
The facility could be operational in 2026 after receiving an investment of more than 1 billion euros. It will be powered by renewable energy from wind and hydropower sources and only require water and air as raw materials because it is based on electrolysis technology.
This program, dubbed “Green Wolverine,” is a component of Grupo Fertiberia’s decarbonization plan. According to Goi, this investment will improve the EU’s and Sweden’s capacity for food security. In actuality, Sweden imports around 600,000 tons of goods each year and has no indigenous manufacture.
The manufacturing of fertilizers is necessary to fulfil the current demands of the global population for food, and using green ammonia as a raw material reduces CO2 emissions into the environment.
For the generation of heat and electricity, hydrogen can be utilized as a substitute fuel or coupled with natural gas, fully eliminating the emissions associated with cogeneration, a sector that could undergo an overnight transformation. It belongs to the sector known as “H2 ready.”
Hydrogen is already used in other industries, such as refining, but it is created using fossil fuels, therefore the change would also take place right away.
