Water, energy and industry
The key drivers for sustainable urban development are strong in Europe. This increases demand for technological solutions to ensure access to clean water, create a reliable and sustainable energy supply, and build resource-efficient industrial facilities.
Supporting the energy and industry transition
Sweco actively supports the energy transition by bringing together expertise in a range of areas of strategic importance for energy supply. These range from renewable energy production, expansion of the electricity transmission and distribution grid, efficient energy consumption, and technological development in areas such as hydrogen energy storage, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU). With in-depth collaboration with energy and industrial clients across several European markets, Sweco can work interdisciplinarily and draw advantage from experiences from project to project, which benefits the pace of innovation as well as project economy.
With a high level of technological expertise and well-established processes in industrial conversion, energy- and resource-efficient solutions are applied in many parts of the manufacturing, process and pharmaceutical industries. Sweco’s experts also support public and private clients in the growing field of water management. This ranges from providing access to clean water and managing process water, to providing flood protection. In water, energy and industry, Sweco’s main contribution is to UN global goals SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 7: Sustainable Energy, and SDG 9: Sustainable Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
Together with Anglian Water, Welsh Water and Skanska, Sweco has developed a ground-breaking model for visualizing a project’s carbon and financial costs.
Industrial transition
With in-depth collaboration with energy and industrial clients across several European markets, Sweco works across disciplines and draws advantage from experiences from project to project, which benefits the pace of innovation as well as project finances. With a high level of technological expertise and well-established processes in industrial transition, energy- and resource-efficient solutions are applied in many parts of the manufacturing, process and pharmaceutical industries.
From fossil fuels to renewable energy
Our energy experts work with the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, reliable and efficient power distribution, and infrastructure expansion for new fuels such as electricity and hydrogen. Several projects, for example, involve harvesting as well as storing solar and wind energy, while also reducing consumption by smarter energy usage. Our consultants also actively support the accelerated expansion of hydrogen in the overall energy supply in multiple markets.
As European countries work towards climate neutrality, they are tasked with overhauling and expanding their grid infrastructures to integrate renewable energy sources and meet new energy demands.
New industrialisation
As part of the transition to a fossil-free energy system, Sweco works on several battery manufacturing projects. Among other projects, Sweco assists Belgium’s largest copper producer in the construction of a state-of-the-art recycling plant for copper and nickel battery metals. In Sweden, Sweco is working with Northvolt, a battery company, to convert the Kvarnsveden paper mill in Börlänge into a gigafactory. In Herøya, Norway, Sweco is working with Vianode to convert buildings for the production of graphite – an important input in the production of electric car batteries.
Energy transition
Hydrogen has great potential as an energy carrier, a fuel, and to enable electricity storage. In addition to expanding the actual production of hydrogen, an adapted distribution infrastructure is needed. In the port of Ghent, Belgium, Sweco is working on the first twenty kilometres of what may become a nationwide system of pipelines to transport hydrogen throughout the country. Outside Helsinki, Finland, Sweco is the implementation designer for Finland’s largest air-to-water heat pump plant. The plant, which generates heat directly from outside air and waste heat from buildings, reduces CO2 emissions equivalent to the climate footprint produced by thousands of private individuals.
On behalf of VoltH2, Sweco’s expert teams in Belgium and the Netherlands managed the design, planning and permit process for two large-scale hydrogen plants, which will use wind power to produce green natural gas.
Sustainability Report
Sustainability forms an integral part of Sweco’s business and strategy.
Sweco’s sustainability work
Sweco’s group-wide sustainability goal is to achieve climate neutrality by 2040.
This is Sweco
We are Europe’s leading architecture and engineering consultancy.
