Nordic Green 2022: Green Transition and Energy Resilience
Nordic Green 2022: Green Transition and Energy Resilience
Singapore, 26 October 2022
Orchard Hotel Singapore
The Nordic region is committed to achieving carbon neutrality and becoming the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. For this vision to become a reality, actions for strengthening energy security, developing green transitions, and building a sustainable framework are needed, with the right resources, innovations, knowledge and skills.
On October 26th, Nordic Innovation House Singapore hosted its annual Nordic Green conference during energy week in Singapore. This year, the theme was 'Green Transition and Energy Resilience’ focused on carbon-neutral ambitions, experiences with green energy transition and striving for energy resilience in the Nordics and Southeast Asia region. Our Nordic Ambassadors and panel of energy industry leaders shared their perspectives on energy solutions and investments for transitions to a greener grid, energy research and development, cutting-edge technologies for future energy efficiency, and fostering international cooperation for new opportunities.
Nordic Green 2022 was made possible through a partnership between Nordic Innovation House, the Nordic Embassies and Trade Promotion offices in Singapore, with funding support from Nordic Talks.
Opening Address
First, we had an opening address delivered by H.E. Sandra Jensen Landi, Ambassador of Denmark to Singapore of the Embassy of Denmark in Singapore. In her speech, she elaborated on the three priorities of Nordic Vision 2030 and stressed that sustainability is a significant concern in the Nordics. In fact, the five Nordic nations have come a long way in energy collaborations and transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Together, they have created a Nordic power system where hydro, nuclear, and wind power are their main energy sources. The interconnected energy supply system allows Nordic countries to export and import excess energy from each other.
Adding on, she highlighted some Danish energy partnerships and collaborations between the public and the private sector to address societal challenges in the energy sector. For example, a flagship project by Denmark for a greener future includes constructing Energy Islands in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The islands serve as green power hubs that harness electricity from surrounding offshore wind farms and distribute it to the grief in Denmark and directly to other countries. It will also have the capability to supply Danish households with 100 percent green energy.
H.E. Sandra Jensen Landi concluded, “Today, there is an urgent need for companies to lower their carbon footprint, not only to reach a political goal but simply to keep energy costs down. The need to find new and innovative solutions has grown tenfold since last year.”.
Action Plan for 2021 to 2024
“Sustainability is today at the core of how we innovate, how we produce and how we plan. But, we can – and must – still do more.”
Navigating Energy Resilience and Greener Future in the Nordics and Southeast Asia
Next, we turned our spotlight to the selected panel of energy industry leaders on stage to navigate and address the key challenges and regulations in geothermal, sustainable aviation fuel and renewable energy. They also provided valuable insights into their experiences in the applicability of new technologies, the adoption of digitalisation and the importance of knowledge transfer. The session was moderated by Mr Yatin Premchand (Managing Director, Global Advisory, Black & Veatch) and the panellists were Ms Leena Matilainen (Head of APAC Innovation Center, Neste Asia Pacific), Mr Haukur Harðarson (Chairman & Founder, Arctic Green Energy) and Mr Prashan Mishra (Global Head M&S Switchgear, Hitachi Energy). Here are some advocating points on actions for tackling green energy transitions and achieving the sustainable development goals in the Nordic and Asia countries!
By Ms Leena Matilainen – Head of APAC Innovation Center of Neste Asia Pacific
The need for research and analyse data to develop new solutions for sustainable and renewable fuels in the aviation industry.
Neste’s extensive project investing 1.5 billion Euros to expand existing refinery and productions to meet high demands and aviation targets in net zero by 2050.
Regulations to unlock short-term and long-term processes and goals, and policies are essential to stabilise the mechanism between price difference and raw materials used.
Exploring sustainable options and the impact of making key selections.
“It would be nice to see not Metropolis but sustainable-polis later on.”
By Mr Haukur Haukur Harðarson – Chairman & Founder of Arctic Green Energy
Iceland is a leading nation in Geothermal. Developing new technologies to generate electricity and energy value from Geothermal for heating and cooling, energy security and stability.
Southeast Asia has the best geothermal reservoir of any region in the world and a bright future for geothermal electricity cooling and heating.
The need to address how cities are heated and cooled to reach global decarbonisation goals and carbon neutrality.
Importance of educating decision-makers and city planners on the benefits of utilising geothermal as an energy heating and cooling source.
“Remember this about geothermal, it is renewable, it is base load, it is profitable, it provides energy security and energy stability. How can it beat that?”
By Mr Prashan Mishra, Global Head M&S Switchgear of Hitachi Energy
Enabling energy security of renewable energy integration, interconnection and energy efficiencies would require three key fundamentals. They are (1) Decarbonisation of electrification, (2) Decentralisation of renewable energy, and lastly (3) Digitalisation to predict energy consumption.
From the technological perspective, a strong policy framework is essential to achieve green energy transition.
“So for me, there is not one solution. But if everyone acts with a sense of urgency, we can achieve the green energy transition.”
Closing Remarks
“We believe in Nordic collaboration with Singaporean and Asian partners to solve the long-term challenges of sustainability and the short-term disruptions in the global and regional energy markets.””
Lastly, an inspiring closing remark by H.E. Eivind S. Homme, the Ambassador of Norway to Singapore of the Norwegian Embassy in Singapore. He touched on Norway’s role as a leading energy producer and provided examples of Norwegian companies who are active in the Asian energy markets such as –
Equinor is the global leader on floating offshore wind and has recently established offices in Japan and Vietnam.
Ocean Sun, Scatec and Fred Olsen Renewables are in the front-end on offshore floating solar;
Fertiliser company, Yara is positioning itself to be world leader on green ammonia production.
H.E. Homme also stated that we have much to offer each other, and that working with Singapore and companies in this region will be highly beneficial, for all of us including the Nordics. And despite the huge challenges, taking into consideration the immense time pressure we all are facing, to save the world and continue economic, sustainable growth.
The evening continued with networking opportunities among invited guests and room to explore five Nordic showcase stations set up by Green Denmark, Green by Iceland, Neste, Business Finland, Hitachi Energy and TOMRA. We look forward to presenting a bigger, bolder and greener conference in 2023!
Main Organisers and Marketing Partners
ABOUT NORDIC TALKS
‘Nordic Talks’ is a series of talks and podcast episodes addressing the biggest global challenges. Through conversations with some of the brightest minds in the Nordics and their counterparts from around the world we want to provide a space for contemplation and to share inspiration on how to take action on sustainability issues in our everyday lives. All Nordic Talks are dedicated to addressing the UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) challenges. NORDIC TALKS is brought to you by The Nordics, a project under The Nordic Council of Ministers.
Nordic Innovation House is a connector accelerating high-quality Nordic tech startups, scaleups and growth companies in Singapore. We are the bridge between Nordic and Singapore ecosystem players, including government, corporate, SME, investors and accelerator hubs, to enable more collaborations. In Singapore, we work closely with Business Sweden, Innovation Norway, Business Iceland, the Embassy of Finland and the Embassy of Denmark in Singapore.
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