Large Nordic companies: Build the countries' energy systems together

During a major security effort, on Thursday morning Finnish President Alexander Stubb opens the first meeting in the collaboration, which has been named the Nordic Compass Summit.

It takes place in the Petter Stordalen-owned hotel Draken in Gothenburg after the participants, many top managers of the Nordic region's largest industrial companies, had a welcome dinner in the Stock Exchange on Wednesday evening.

The Nordic Compass Summit took shape in May this year. According to information to DN, it is a round table network with the Wallenberg family and Investor as initiators.

The network's board also includes Investor's chairman Jacob Wallenberg. A main issue on Thursday is the presentation of a proposal for a joint Nordic plan to bring fossil-free energy to industry.

One of two "hubs" would be located in the north and the other in the south. With the help of new power lines and underwater cables, offshore wind power, hydropower, hydrogen production and storage as well as new nuclear power would contribute to safer energy supply and lower electricity prices for everyone in the Nordics.

The document on this "Energy Track" claims that the Nordic countries have an "energy peak" that should be used to give an advantage in global competition.

In the document, electricity consumption in the Nordic region is estimated to increase from around 380 terawatt hours today to 525–550 terawatt hours in 15 years. Companies establishing themselves in the designated energy zones would be offered faster access to renewable energy and power lines, according to the proposal.

The "offshore hub" that they describe in a map has wind farms in the North Sea but also in the Kattegatt, in the southern Bothnian Sea and on Bornholm.

It is further mentioned that a number of companies have backed the plan and that it could be up and running by 2030. But it is also stated that the plan requires public funding "and political support".

While waiting for those announcements, teams are now being put together to investigate issues such as investments, law, access to power lines and risk distribution.

The outcome of this "Energy Track" comes two days after Jacob Wallenberg and 14 other important Swedish industry leaders wrote a debate article in Di on a similar theme: that the message of Swedish politics so far about nuclear power is not enough.

In addition to Vattenfall's plans for new reactors at Ringhals, the industry leaders write that Fortum's plans for new nuclear power in Oskarshamn "need to be disposed of" - together with some of the applied for projects with smaller so-called SMR reactors - with a "broadly anchored framework for financing and risk sharing that lasts over mandate periods" in the Riksdag.

The fact that the premiere of this conference, with a total of around 650 participants, takes place in Gothenburg is rooted in the fact that the municipality-owned Business Region Gothenburg, BRG, was contacted by the Danish management consultants Dalberg a year ago. They had the task of bringing together the Nordic business community.

- You saw that there are great strengths here, and what if we can find alliances and strengthen the Nordics even more? Of course we wanted to host such a meeting, says Patrik Andersson, CEO of BRG.