Our Way 2/22 1
EDITORIAL IS ELECTRICITY NECESSARY? “W e might ha
ve to sell our house and move in with our son. What 52-year-old mother wants that?” says Merja Hellgren in Borlänge. Until October they had a fixed price on electricity. Now the price will follow the market rate. USAGE, PRODUCTION, COST and the shortage of electricity are familiar topics now, and subjects no one can avoid. The current situation reminds us that we are vulnerable if the switch can’t be turned on. How to produce, store and reduce the dependence on electricity is in everyone’s interest. To think ahead and find alternative solutions is necessary. Media reports highlight the risk that we might not always have access to electricity – something most of us never considered just a few months ago. How can we prepare for this? Is there anything to do, or is the only option to wait it out? Regular people and small businesses struggle when the cost for electricity suddenly more than triples. The non-profit hockey club in Munkedal has a monthly electricity bill of SEK 180,000. This despite having cut the electricity consumption in half over the past four years. “We can keep this up until the end of the year. Then we are out of money,” says Chairman Tommy Strömberg. THE SWEDISH PRODUCTION of electricity comes from several different energy sources. Water power is the main source, followed by wind and solar power. Privately owned solar panels in Sweden increased 2 OUR WAY 2/2022 a great deal the past seven years. This is thanks to reductions of up to 80% on the prices of solar panels. At the beginning of 2022, there were 92,000 solar panel installations, an increase of 46% in comparison to 2021. Still, installed capacity represents only around 4% of the yearly power usage of private households. And because we live up north, additional means of energy production are necessary during the cold and dark months when large amounts of electricity are used. SOYA GROUP CHOSE upstream solutions and are perhaps a bit further along the way when it comes to producing sustainable energy. During November this year, Wallfast took its energy production to new heights when installing its latest wind turbine in Åsele, in Västernorrland. The new turbine has the capacity of 16 GWh, almost three times as much as the previous turbine models, still running at the wind farm since 2012. The wind park produces enough electricity to cover the needs of Wallfast and their 8,000 tenants, making this yet another important step in the right direction of Our Sustainable Way. RICHARD JEPPSSON Vice President Head of Group Communications Published by Soya Group Editor-in-Chief & Publisher responsible under Swedish press law Richard Jeppsson Editorial production OTW Editors Sofia Lundgren, Pia Adolfsson Art Director & Layout Artist Martin Isaksson Cover illustration Frederik Tennholt/Good Monday Printer Trydells, Laholm ~ If you have any comments or questions related to Our Way, please email: ourway@soyagroup.com ~ Copyright texts and images in Our Way may not be republished without permission from the editor or publisher responsible. ABOUT SOYA GROUP Soya Group is the collective name for a group of companies active within three main business areas: shipping, real estate and trotting. The group was founded in 1934 and the common denominator for all companies is that all business shall be carried out with a strong sustainable focus. Today, some 1,100 people work in Soya Group companies in Europe, the US and Asia. For information about how we handle your personal information, see soyagroup.com/en/soya-group/contact-2/ data-protection-policy If you wish to be removed from the Our Way distribution list, please send an email to ourway@soyagroup.com Trycksak 3041 0091 A GREEN MAGAZINE This magazine is produced in accordance with the Nordic ecolabelling system, the Swan. T S V K A R N Ä E M N E