The family-owned British energy company RES Group, which has decades of experience in the development, construction and operation of renewable energy projects, has a particular eye on the Swedish market in the Nordic region, where the company has its regional headquarters and sees great opportunities for continued growth.

However, the company also sees good opportunities for developing new projects in Norway and Finland, but Sweden is the ”home market” and also where the company started its Nordic adventure 25 years ago, says CEO of RES Nordics, Matilda Afzelius, in an interview with MarketWire.

Investment appetite is still strong

”In Sweden and Norway, we see a huge demand for renewable energy. It’s mainly in onshore wind, but also solar energy. The appetite for investment is still strong and it is also possible to find suitable locations for projects.”

”When we have a project that we put on the market, we have many interested parties,” says Afzelius.

In Sweden, wind energy’s share of the total electricity supply is around 20%, and Afzelius points out that 60% of capacity is set to be replaced by 2045, potentially and to a large extent with wind energy.

”It’s also a pretty safe prediction that Sweden’s electricity demand will double from today’s 140TWh to around 300TWh in 2045. So it’s safe to say that much more power - and thus renewable energy - is needed,” says Afzelius, referring to a forecast from the Swedish Energy Agency.

So ”the sky is the limit”, she says in general about the possibilities.

RES Group entered the Swedish market about 25 years ago by buying a small developer, and for many years the activities were run under the name Nordisk Vindkraft. Four years ago, however, the company changed its name to RES, which stands for Renewable Energy Systems and better aligns with the company’s overall activities.

Sweden remains home market

The historically strong connection to the domestic market makes Sweden a natural starting point for continuing to pursue market opportunities for the company, which also has its Nordic headquarters in Gothenburg.

”Sweden is our home market. There is still a lot of space available for projects, and at the same time there is a good balance with hydropower,” says Afzelius.

However, there is also fierce competition for the attractive sites for new projects, but ”it’s always been like that”.

”The competition is healthy, but depending on who you are and how long-term you are in the market, you get sites and land leases. Of course, you have to play fair and have a good reputation. We have a great relationship with the stakeholders, including the municipalities, and of course that’s what creates the story and the brand.”

”It doesn’t go great everywhere, because that’s the nature of project development. But yes, there is competition for land, but we still get leases on land,” says Afzelius.

Has resumed onshore wind in Norway

In Norway, she also sees attractive opportunities after that market suffered from changing framework conditions and challenges with public acceptance of projects a few years ago.

”But now we see the potential of getting into solar energy storage and maybe green hydrogen, and we’re starting to work with onshore wind in Norway again. So I would say that we see the biggest opportunities in Sweden, and then Norway is the closest.”

”Finland is also in the process of bringing a lot of wind power online. Of course, that also provides opportunities for storage and green hydrogen. So we see Finland as a third market coming up,” says Afzelius.

Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Kristoffer Grønbæk