There are years in the history of a company that, in retrospect, are described as groundbreaking, as shaping the future. 2023 was exactly that for SVEVIND Energy Group – a year that will go down in the annals of company history. But first things first.
A high-ranking state visit to the project site in the Kazakh steppe by German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov in June provided a fitting backdrop for the start of one of the most important phases for our Hyrasia One project – the Preliminary Front-End Engineering Design (Pre-FEED). Important technical planning work began with extensive geotechnical drilling work in cooperation with the renowned engineering companies Technip Energies and their subsidiary Genesis with headquarters in Paris and London. Pre-FEED will be completed early 2024. Being able to present the importance of major projects such as Hyrasia One for the decarbonization of global industries to two influential heads of state was a valuable opportunity for us and an important step in project development.
In addition to the technical planning work, activities on the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) also began in May of 2023. Never before have these been planned and carried out on this scale in Kazakhstan. As a project for the production of green hydrogen, it is of course of the utmost importance to ensure that the plans are compatible with the protection of the ecology and the local population. With FICHTNER, SVEVIND Energy have engaged with an experienced company with its headquarter in Stuttgart/Germany at our side for this responsible task.
A detailed study commissioned by German Deutsche Bahn Engineering and Consulting (Berlin) on the subject of transportation and logistics was completed in December and proven the feasibility of certain transport routes and cost-competitiveness of multimodal transports of green ammonia from the project location in Mangystau region to Europe as well as south-east Asia. One core element for this is the signed cooperation agreement with Semurg Invest, the owner and operator of the largest terminal facility of the port of Kuryk on the Caspian Sea.
Another milestone was reached just before year ended as SVEVIND Energy received confirmation that Germany is backing our project with an so called investment guarantee. Hyrasia One is the first project under development ever covered by this instrument and it shows the commitment of Germany to support the project.
In addition to these important developments for the Kazakh project, which have given us a forward-looking boost, another chapter in the history of the SVEVIND Energy Group has come to an successful completion. After more than 20 years of development, planning and implementation work in northern Sweden, groundbreaking pioneering work in the field of onshore wind energy, and wind turbines with a capacity of 2,000 megawatts entered commercial operation not far from the town of Piteå, SVEVIND Energy closed the chapter „Markbygden 1101“.
What SVEVIND Energy developed since 2002 became Europe’s largest and most powerful onshore wind farm. A further 1,400 megawatts are to be installed by 2026, making Sweden’s energy supply much more sustainable. In order to drive this process forward as effectively as possible, SVEVIND Energy divested the grid company „Markbygden Net“ operating Sweden’s most powerful substation, the 1700 megawatt substation Råbacken and related grid infrastructure to the Nordic grid operator Ellevio. SVEVIND Energy’s Swedish project development team and the 20 Gigawatt project pipeline are now part of the internationally active Norwegian energy group Statkraft and will therefore continue to play a key role in the energy transition in Northern Scandinavia.
We concluded the year with numerous valuable impressions and insights from our participation in the UN Climate Change Conference. Seven enlightening days, numerous meetings, countless impressions and a suitcase full of inspiration – our first participation in the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai showed more than ever how important climate protection is for the whole world.
Tens of thousands of people from all around the world showed in Dubai that business as usual is not an option. Nearly all stakeholders are in agreement that green hydrogen has a key role to play in the fight against global warming. The fact that we were able to present Hyrasia One and make important new contacts in this context is all the more important and gratifying.
The actions of the United Nations between now and COP29 in Baku will show how serious the nations of our planet are about the energy transition. We are ready to play our part.
As eventful as 2023 was, 2024 will be in no way inferior. The achievement of important milestones lies ahead of us and so we will continue to work on Hyrasia One with full commitment and passion.