The green strategy of the Faroe Islands is recognised in a Nordic Council report

A report about Nordic energy cooperation, entitled Strong today – Stronger tomorrow, references, among other initiatives, the green energy strategy of the Faroe Islands, and especially the battery station at Húsahagi and the possibilities for other energy storage schemes within the Faroese energy system, which have sparked much interest.

The report, published in June 2017, also mentions the Faroe Islands as an energy testbed and that the knowledge gained in the Faroe Islands about the shift to green energy, including the battery system and other energy storage initiatives, should be widely disseminated, with a focus on areas with small populations.

The Nordic Council of Ministers commissioned the study on 27 October 2015 – the very same day that SEV was awarded the Nordic Nature and Environment prize in Reykjavík, Iceland. Mr. Jorma Ollila from Finland, who served as the chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and the chairman and CEO of Nokia Corporation for several years, was responsible for drafting the report on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Mr. Jorma Ollila, who also had a meeting with SEV on 7 September 2016, interviewed more than 100 individuals, who took the opportunity to share their perspectives on how best to strengthen Nordic energy cooperation.

The report noted that representatives from the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland jointly emphasised that any Nordic energy cooperation should incorporate a partnership focused on specific solutions tailormade for the challenges facing the outlying countries of the Nordic region that are not linked into the common Nordic electricity grid.

“The battery system at Húsahagi and our innovative initiatives exploring other energy solutions are examples of the subjects discussed in the report. Innovative thinking and distinctive solutions are a prerequisite for reaching the goal of 100% green energy production in the Faroe Islands by 2030”, Mr. Hákun Djurhuus, CEO of SEV, explained.

Mr. Jorma Ollila observed in the report that we should take full advantage of the potential for innovation in the energy sector to create new jobs in the sector.

“The shift to green energy is already underway – if the Nordic countries do not fully and totally take part in this shift, jobs will be created elsewhere”, Mr. Jorma Ollila observed, among other things, in the preface to the Nordic energy report, Strong today – Stronger tomorrow. The report references 14 proposals on how Nordic energy collaboration could be strengthened.

The picture above: Jorma Ollila, pictured right, author of “Strong today – stronger tomorrow”, together with the Norwegian Minister of Energy, Terje Søviknes, centre, and Dagfinn Høybråten, General Sectretary of the Nordic Council of Ministers, when the Nordic energy report was published

The report from the Nordic Council of Ministers is available at Norden.org/strongertomorrow