In a world where fewer and fewer resources are needed for more and more people and climate change is a fact, we are taking more responsibility. We express this through our vision - building the most resource-efficient region in the world.
At Tekniska verken, we want to ensure that as many resources as possible can be used efficiently in society's cycles, and ensure that as little as possible is wasted. We can refine or recreate resources, but also act as an intermediary that helps other actors to use each other's resources.
The way we see it, waste is a resource that can be used to produce vital assets. This is one of the fundamental perspectives in building a circular society
Energy recovery from waste is an important part of building the most resource-efficient region in the world. Today, energy recovery is necessary to maximise the benefits of the waste generated in society.
We only want to use waste that cannot be reused or recycled to produce heat and electricity through energy recovery. Waste is not created because we burn it, but because we as a society constantly consume and throw away newly produced and cheap resources. This influx must be reduced and is something we all need to work actively on. We are therefore working, among other things, to build a sorting facility that can sort out even more recyclable material from our household waste so that material recycling increases.
By managing waste in the most efficient way possible, we help reduce global climate emissions. Energy recovery of waste allows us to move higher up the waste ladder, from landfill to energy recovery. At the same time, energy recovery results in local emissions of carbon dioxide through the chimneys of our incineration plants. To reduce emissions from our combustion plants, we are exploring the possibility of carbon capture to reuse or permanently store carbon dioxide. By 2045, we will not emit any fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere.
Energy is needed for many things in our daily lives. Turning society's waste into renewable energy, as we do when we produce biogas, is resource-efficient and part of the solution to global climate problems. Biogas thus plays an important role in closing the loop in a circular economy.
In Linköping we know biogas, and have more than 20 years of experience in producing fossil-free and renewable biogas. We have the largest co-digestion plant in the Nordic area where we produce 120 GWh annually. Raw materials used are household waste from approximately 20 municipalities, sewage sludge, industrial waste, slaughterhouse- and food industry waste.
Biogas production provides not only one, but two useful environmentally friendly products, biogas and bio-fertiliser. Biogas replaces fossil fuels and therefore reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Biofertiliser replaces resource-intensive artificial fertilisers in agriculture and returns essential nutrients to the same soil from which it came. The cycle is closed.
We have a huge responsibility for all the things that need to work. Together, we make a fantastic part of the world go round, every day. For a fossil-free 2045 and all the needs of the future, we are investing in new solutions. Lots of them. Here is a selection of our investments.
The power of the sun is infinite. Solar cells allow us to convert the sun's rays into electricity, and the development of solar parks is progressing rapidly. At the same time, it is important that we use the land in a sustainable way. This is why we want to create more solar parks that have a greater value than just producing electricity.
By using solar power, we are contributing to a greater share of renewable electricity in our grids while using the land in a sustainable way. Because we want the solar parks of the future to have more value than just producing electricity. Expanding renewable energy production based on sustainable land use is part of our efforts to achieve the UN's global goals. This includes Goal 7 - "Sustainable energy for all".
Together with Vattenfall Värme and Umeå Energi, Tekniska verken is developing FossilEye, the fossil eye. This is a measurement system that will make it possible to scan how much plastic is in a waste bin. The aim is to increase plastic recycling and reduce emissions from cogeneration. One million tonnes of plastic are burned every year, although a large proportion could be recycled and given a new life. Therefore, together with our partners and the supplier Robowaste, we have developed Fossil Eye.
The production of renewable electricity from wind power is an important part of the energy mix. In 2025, the municipal group's total electricity production will correspond to the total electricity consumption in Linköping, which is approximately 1,300 GWh. We are therefore continuing to expand our wind power.
Along the E4 motorway in Linköping is one of Sweden's largest solar parks, which we own together with Infranode and Alight. The solar park consists of 30,000 panels on an area equivalent to 22 football pitches, and produces around 11.5 GWh of electricity every year. On a sunny summer day, the park is estimated to produce electricity equivalent to the annual household electricity of 18 houses or 36 apartments.
During the year, we installed two large batteries there. The two batteries together can store 2,000 kWh of solar power. One of the purposes is to help Svenska kraftnät maintain the right frequency in the electricity grid and contribute to increased grid stability. The park is Sweden's largest combined solar and storage facility. The electricity trading company Bixia, part of Tekniska verken, is responsible for balancing both the solar farm and the batteries.
On the edge of the Trädgårdsföreningen city park, we built a stormwater reservoir in 2022 to reduce the risk of future flooding. Rainwater and melted snow run off quickly from roofs, streets and squares. In nature, it seeps down through the ground, but in cities, water needs somewhere to go to prevent flooding in basements and street drains. So we built a reservoir with a capacity of 1 500 cubic metres to provide temporary storage for rain and melt water. When a lot of water comes in at once, the water is collected in the reservoir, instead of filling up pipes and causing flooding and other damage.
In collaboration with the company Hydroc Energy Storage, we have built a facility in Vallastaden that will be able to store summer heat in the bedrock. The idea is that the heat will be stored untl winter, when the need for it is greater. The facility is one of the first of its kind in the world.
In 2023, we will start building a state-of-the-art waste sorting facility in Linköping. Two years later, it will be put into operation. The facility will sort out plastics, metals, paper and organic material from the waste that Tekniska verken handles. With this investment, we are pushing the boundaries of resource-efficient waste management, which means a real step up the waste ladder.
In 2017, we commissioned Sweden's first large-scale plant for pharmaceutical residues at the Nykvarn wastewater treatment plant in Linköping. There, about 90% of the pharmaceutical residues are broken down with the help of ozone.
Ebbepark was a multi-stakeholder project to transform an old industrial area into an open and accessible neighbourhood.
In Vallastaden, we developed a unique culvert system that creates new opportunities for infrastructure solutions in several respects.
