Industrial and urban symbiosis in Norrköping

Overview

On the beautiful island of Händelö, about 2 km from the center of Norrköping, lies an industrial park where renewable and recycled raw materials dominate the value chains. Industrial collaborations in Norrköping began around E.ON's combined heat and power plant and Lantmännen Agroetanol's grain-based biorefinery. In this collaboration, E.ON provides Agroetanol with process steam produced from renewable resources, which is used both for distillation and for drying protein rich organic fractions. Another partnership with Linde Gas enables the capture of biogenic CO2 from the fermentation process, which replaces fossil-based CO2 in consumer markets and industrial applications. This also represents Sweden's first bio-based carbon capture and utilisation (BCCU) application. Thanks to these synergistic relations, the grain ethanol produced by Agroethanol has the best CO2 performance in the world, enabling sales at premium prices in selected markets. Another hallmark of the symbiosis network in this context is the strong collaboration that between the city of Norrköping and the energy utility operator E.ON, which transformed the local energy system from being entirely dependent on fossil fuels to being almost entirely reliant on renewable and recovered fuels. This symbiosis system in Norrköping has developed organically over the past twenty years. Since the end of 2019, dedicated work has begun to facilitate and strengthen the symbiosis at Händelö. This project is coordinated by the Energy Office Östergötland and Cleantech Östergötland – two external actors with the ability to develop cooperation and innovation in the industrial park. Other important actors of the symbiotic ecosystem in Norrköping, Nodra, Norrköping Port, Norrköping Municipality, Linköping University, Econova, Holmen, Returpack, and Cleanaway. 

Highlights

The heat collaboration between E.ON and Agroetanol involves the transfer of high-grade process steam to Agroetanol and the return of low-grade steam to E.ON to be used in the district heating network. To ensure efficient use of the heat, the district heating network has been extended to Åby and Söderköping in conjunction with Agroetanol's expansion. The captured carbon dioxide from the ethanol process is utilized to create new carbon dioxide products. Agroetanol receives secondary raw materials for its ethanol production and produces a protein-rich raw material used for feed production. The city of Norrköping has an integrated role in the energy system provided by E.ON for the region. Municipal and industrial sewage sludge is digested into biogas, which is upgraded and supplies the local buses with vehicle fuel. On Händelö, the companies Returpack and Cleanaway. 

Drivers and Enablers

The industrial symbiosis in Norrköping primarily emerged as a result of organically developed collaboration between private companies in response to environmental, regulatory, and business challenges identified by local public and private actors. Over time, the understanding of this unique cooperation and its positive effects has brought a stronger desire to systematize and structure the collaboration. Several attempts to do this have been made over the years and material outcomes started to emerge since 2019 after the two external actors have entered the arena and are supporting the development together with the companies involved.

The symbiosis in Norrköping is built on a strong business-to-business relationship. The trust between Agroetanol and E.ON was so significant that when Agroetanol decided to increase its production fourfold with a  new production line, E.ON chose to make a billion SEK investment in a new boiler to meet Agroetanol's increased steam demand, which also enabled extending the district heating network to two nearby towns. The strong trust between the actors enabled their parallel expansions and significantly increased the volume of their synergistic collaboration. 

Want to learn more?

In this film, you can meet representatives from the constellation of actors present at Händelö and learn more about how the collaboration at Händelö creates a multitude of resource efficiency benefits and contributes to increased climate performance.