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Norway has taken a number one function in no less than two high-visibility parts of the power transition, together with its offshore wind trade in addition to the fast tempo of EV gross sales within the nation. Nevertheless, wind generators and electrical automobiles are simply a part of the image. Exercise is stirring in different areas as nicely.
Behind The Scenes At The Power Transition
I’ll be connecting with a few of these backstage innovators later this week on a visit to Norway, all however one among which have slipped underneath the CleanTechnica radar up to now (please word, this journey was made potential by the media agency Arc Press).
The supply of EV charging is among the essential methods that may influence a rustic’s EV gross sales profile. Norway apparently has loads of charging stations to go round, however EV charging stakeholders will not be leaving the long run as much as likelihood.
This week I’ll be assembly with representatives from the Norwegian startup Elywhere. They’ve developed a charger-plus-storage answer for places the place the grid is simply too weak to assist quick charging stations. With an built-in battery, the charging station can recharge itself at its leisure, every time the grid is as much as snuff.
Along with the charging idea itself, Elywhere is of curiosity within the broader context of the power transition. They launched in March of 2021 and had their preliminary ES300/300 charging station on show on the Nordic EV Summit in November of 2022, a nifty demonstration of the depth and maturity of the charging station and power storage provide chains. The show mannequin was additionally a working product, put in at its everlasting location quickly after the summit ended.
One other power transition agency on my checklist is the Norwegian battery innovator Morrow Batterieswhich is specializing in lithium-iron-phosphate batteries for heavy-duty functions. The LFP supply chain is taken into account extra eco-friendly than the acquainted lithium-ion batteries and it’s cheaper, offering the power storage discipline with further choices.
Maintain on to your hats. Morrow additionally runs an power storage analysis middle in Norway, the place work is continuing on a lithium-manganese-nickel-oxide (LMNO) cathode materials with the purpose of chopping cobalt out of battery provide chain. Morrow additionally anticipates that the R&D effort will scale back the quantity of nickel and lithium wanted.
Transmission Traces And The Power Transition
Neither Morrow nor its LMNO EV battery analysis mission have surfaced on the pages of CleanTechnica till this week. One other new face is the startup Heimdall Power. The corporate focuses on grid optimization, tweaking present belongings to enhance reliability and add transmission capability with out including the price of new infrastructure.
CleanTechnica has noticed a few different companies deploying new sensing applied sciences and software program to squeeze extra capability out of present transmission traces with out sacrificing reliability. Heimdall expects to achieve an edge partly by deploying drones to put in its sensors in hard-to-reach areas. The corporate additionally notes that its digital system helps easy the best way so as to add extra renewable power to grids.
Discovering The Proper Utility For Wave Power
Wave energy is one other important piece of the power transition puzzle that has lengthy been buried underneath an avalanche of stories about electrical automobiles, vans, vehicles, scooters, bikes, autocycles, trains, plane, and autonomous automobiles of all kinds. Nonetheless, all that electrical energy for all these EV batteries has to return from someplace, and it may come from harvesting the infinite kinetic power of wave movement. Within the US, for instance, waves may present for about one-third of the nation’s electrical energy consumption (see heaps extra wave energy background here).
After years of R&D work to beat some sticky know-how obstacles, wave power harvesting units are starting to edge into the market. CleanTechnica has been monitoring the exercise however we haven’t noticed the Norwegian wave power startup Ocean Oasis but, so I’m wanting ahead to the possibility to catch up.
Ocean Oasis is among the many wave power stakeholders to identify a aggressive alternative amongst island communities and coastal areas the place the price of fossil power is excessive however there’s little accessible house for onshore wind generators and photo voltaic panels.
The corporate additionally goals to result in an power transition twofer by offering island communities with a wave power answer for his or her desalination methods.
Cleansing Up Delivery Emissions
The local weather tech agency ClimatePoint can be on faucet this week. It really works with corporations to scale back Scope 4 emissions, that means emissions that rise from the usage of a services or products by shoppers and clients. The corporate’s Inexperienced River Funding Administration department allows ClimatePoint to zero in on high-impact alternatives for enterprise capital within the Scope 4 space.
One other newcomer to CleanTechnica is Strawberrythe second-largest resort chain within the area, protecting Scandinavia, Finland, the Faroe Islands, and the Baltics. It at the moment has greater than 240 motels underneath its wing, which actually complicates the sustainability image. Nonetheless, Strawberry states that it’s on a mission to “lead the way and show that impact on the climate can be reduced even within large hotel operations.”
Rounding out the week is the one acquainted title on the checklist, the main Norwegian know-how group Wärtsilä. CleanTechnica retains up with information from the agency regularly, significantly concerning its energy storage enterprise. The corporate’s Wärtsilä Marine department additionally supplies methods for electrical ships, along with hybrids and different applied sciences.
In its newest information, the corporate has additionally been leveraging its expertise in maritime exhaust scrubbing to develop a seagoing carbon seize system. Final week, the agency introduced that its new “Wärtsilä Carbon capture solution” reduces CO2 emissions from ships by as much as 70 p.c.
Whereas that falls wanting a deep, long-term power transition state of affairs, Wärtsilä factors out that carbon seize might help shippers meet the Worldwide Maritime Group’s 2050 discount goal.
Within the meantime, Wärtsilä can be leveraging its market place to encourage its suppliers to scale back their carbon emissions. In February, the corporate reset its “Set for 30” decarbonization targets with a brand new deal with emissions from its Tier 1 direct suppliers, enabling the corporate to make headway on its Scope 3 emissions.
Picture (cropped): There may be extra to the power transition in Norway than wind generators and electrical automobiles, with startups and legacy companies alike pushing the decarbonization envelope (courtesy of Ocean Oasis).
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