Sustainable Solutions in Energy Industry: Japan x Nordic Countries (April 8th, 2021)

Efforts towards a decarbonized society are accelerating around the world. In the case of Japan, the goal to be zero-emission by 2050 was set last fall and is now facing a huge challenge to make it real. The Nordic counties are currently leading the world in this field (reference: The Green Future Index by MIT), and many startups with innovative technologies have been born in the region 🚀🇩🇰🇳🇴🇮🇸🇫🇮🇸🇪.

To provide an opportunity for Japanese stakeholders to learn more about cutting-edge Nordic technologies in this field, Nordic Innovation House Tokyo decided to hold this joint event with Plug and Play Japan.

More than 100 people attended the event online, and the number of questions that we received indicated a high level of interest.

The event started with an introduction of Plug and Play Japan by Kenta Nakai, MC 🎙 of the day and Director of IoT & Energy at Plug and Play Japan.

Plug and Play, a global VC and accelerator from Silicon Valley, has offices in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto in Japan, and has been involved in the acceleration of over 500 startups to date.

The company plans to launch an accelerator program in the energy sector this summer.

Next, we had our Community Director, Niklas Karvonen to give a speech.

Clean energy is one of the strengths of the Nordic countries with huge potential to collaborate with Japan.

First of all, the five Nordic countries share a common vision that the Nordics will be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030, and their political leaders are working to realize this vision.

In addition, the Nordic countries have always ranked high in various global rankings in the field (reference: MIT Green Future Index)🌱. For example, in the past 10 years, the share of renewable energy in the total energy consumption of the Nordic countries has increased by 9%.

Furthermore, the number of impact startups has tripled in the past three years to 1018.

This was followed by pitches from five Nordic startups. The presenters, summaries, and questions and answers are as follows:

💡 Bergen Carbon Solutions (Norway)

Jan Sagmo, CEO & Founder

We make carbon nanofibers (CNF) from CO2. CNF is a material lighter than plastic, stronger than steel, and more electrically conductive than copper.

There are two other ways to produce CNF, but those emit 600kg of CO2 per 1kg of CNF, whereas we are carbon negative and only emit oxygen gas during the production process.

The production facility is modular, and each module captures 30 tons of CO2 per year and produces 6 tons of CNF. Assembly is simple, and labor costs are reduced through automation.

Q: What is your business model?

A: We produce and sell CNF. CNF itself is a material that has been on the market since 2008, but we are offering a new way to produce it. According to PWC’s report, our profit is expected to grow from $500M in 2021 to $1.2B in 2024, and we expect to capture 12% of the global market share with 40 modulus units.

Q: How do you see the Japanese market?

A: We are very interested in it. We are interested in the Japanese market itself because of its high technology, but also because we can expand to other Asian countries via Japan. If you are interested, we would love to hear from you.

🎞 Watch their pitch here.

💡 Carbon Recycling International (CRI) (Iceland)

Benedikt Stefansson, Director of Business Development

CRI produces and sells methanol by combining CO2 emissions with hydrogen produced from industrial waste or renewable energy sources. Our production process is a patented ETL process that is a key technology for the circular economy.

It has already been proven in the market and is expected to reduce CO2 emissions on a large scale.

If renewable energy is not available on-site, we can propose to ship the emitted CO2 to an overseas site where renewable energy and ETL process is available, then transport back the produced methanol back to Japan.

Q: Why a project in China?

A: Because Jili is one of our investors. There is also an environment where we can conduct demonstration tests with methanol vehicles, and industrial waste hydrogen is readily available.

Q: Are there any competitors?

A: There are many. It is beginning to be widely recognized that methanol is the best liquid fuel because this technology is one of the key technologies to a recycling society. Our competitors are both competitors and important partners at the same time(we can cooperate in transportation, etc.), but we are about 15 years ahead of them.

Q: What kind of plastics can you produce?

A: In addition to PET and synthetic fibers, we can synthesize olefins from methanol and produce all kinds of products.

🎞 Watch Bergen Carbon Solution’s pitch here.

💡 Carbfix (Iceland)

Kristinn Larusson, Business Development Manager

Carbfix is a proprietary technology that mimics and accelerates natural processes, converting CO2 into the underground rock within two years.

The company was officially established in 2020 as a subsidiary of Reykjavik Energy, but the idea itself dates back to 2007, when the University of Iceland, Columbia University (USA), and Reykjavik Energy began collaborating on the project.

There are three deployment models for our technology: building our modules at CO2 emission sites, transporting the emitted CO2 to our modules, and capturing CO2 directly from the atmosphere.

We are currently in discussions with a number of multinational companies to explore the various possibilities and are working towards commercialization.

Q: What are the geographic conditions for the implementation of your technology?

A: Basalt is a requirement. There are many areas in Japan that are covered with basalt. Please check the map on our website for details.

🎞 Watch Carbfix’s pitch here.

💡Liquid Wind (Sweden)

Tuya Bold, Head of Finance and Investor Relations

We develop, finance, build, and manage facilities that produce renewable e-methanol using renewable energy and CO2 emissions.

The shipping industry in particular is in urgent need of alternative energy sources to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions, and we are there to provide a solution.

In Japan, we are looking for buyers of renewable methanol, investors, partners for the construction of facilities, and partners in the field of CO2 capture technology.

Q: What are the key indices that affect your company’s profitability?

A: The price of renewable energy is the most important index that determines the price of our products.

🎞 Watch Liquid Wind’s pitch here.

💡 Teraloop (Finland)

Mikko Vehkavaara, SVP Business Development

Teraloop provides a short-term storage solution for renewable energy. Our latest hubless flywheel is scheduled for a demonstration with Siemens by the end of this year.

To date, sales have been dependent on our demonstration partners, and we expect to generate over €300M in revenue by the end of 2025. Sixteen demonstrations are planned by next year, and nine MOUs/LOIs have already been signed in Europe and Asia. With investments through July this year, the company plans to achieve EBIT breakeven in 2022.

The team consists of a relatively young engineering team and a more experienced management team.

Q: Could you tell us a bit more about your team composition? I realize that this area is very competitive, but who are the people involved?

A: For example, we have a senior systems advisor who has been involved in EV development for over 40 years. And we have a very talented team of engineers. The founders are in constant communication with various players in the industry value chain, and we place great emphasis on working with our partners. We are also actively engaged in dialogues with major energy companies to create a place for us in the industry.

🎞 Watch Teraloop’s pitch here.

Thank you for reading to the end!

🗒 日本語レポートはこちらから。
🎞 To learn more, please watch the recording of the event.

ノルディックイノベーションハウス東京は、北欧５カ国のスタートアップ及び成長企業の日本進出を支援する、コミュニティプラットフォームです。強力なコミュニティとネットワークを生かして、北欧企業と日本のステークホルダーを繋いでいきます。

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