27 May 2024

Energy Companies Strengthen Cross-Border Collaboration

A stronger collaboration across the entire Kvarken region within the energy sector and a platform where politics, academia, and businesses can engage in dialogue. This is the motivation behind the working committee formed by the energy companies participating in the Bothnia Green Energy project.

"There are several reasons to enhance cooperation within the energy sector in the Kvarken region. We want to ensure a sustainable and stable energy supply and together open up collaboration between politics, academia, and energy companies," says Ann-Christine Schmidt, Head of Research, Development, and Innovation at Skellefteå Kraft.

The Kvarken Council's board has established various working committees to provide additional support in specific areas. The working committee for energy was the second group established to strengthen regional cooperation and create a platform for dialogue between politics, academia, and energy companies. Within the group, an energy agenda and an annual action plan will be developed.

The Kvarken Council's vision is for the Kvarken region to make the most meaningful global impact through Nordic cooperation, and one of the five key issues identified by the member organizations is to promote the green transition in the region.

"The energy working committee plays a central role in this work. They carry out concrete activities and initiatives that contribute to regional development and cross-border cooperation. The group's work also ensures that the collaboration continues even when there are no current projects bringing the stakeholders together," says Veronica Berg, Development Manager of the Kvarken Council.

Representatives from organizations that are not members of the Kvarken Council EGTC can also be included in the working committees. This is to effectively listen to needs and ideas from the field and ensure that collaborative initiatives have a regional or local order and recipient.

"The Kvarken Council promotes cross-sectoral cooperation to develop new solutions to complex problems. We work together with academia, industry, and other public institutions to create synergies and innovations that can lead to real societal change. Forming working committees like this is made possible thanks to our organizational form EGTC and is a concrete example of how we apply this relatively new organizational form for us," explains Mathias Lindström, Director of the Kvarken Council.

The working committee for energy will consist of the following members from the Kvarken Council's board:

• Joakim Strand (Chairman)
• Richard Carstedt (Vice Chairman)
• Stina Mattila and Evelina Fahlesson.

Representatives from the energy companies and universities will participate in the working committee on a rotating basis.

The following members have been appointed from the region's energy companies:

• Jan Ridfeldt, CEO of Umeå Energi
• Stefan Damlin, CEO of Vaasan Sähkö
• Joachim Nordin, CEO of Skellefteå Kraft
• Kirsi Hautala, CEO of Kokkolan Energia.

From the universities, the following have been appointed:

• Margareta Björklund-Sänkiaho, Professor of Energy Technology from Åbo Akademi
• Dieter Müller, Vice Rector of Umeå University
• Hans Erik Nilsson, Vice Rector of Mid Sweden University
• Margareta Groth, Head of the Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics at Luleå University of Technology.

 

Click here to read more about the project Bothnia Green Energy!

Photographer: Julia Rahikka