The proposal to set up a working committee for energy within the Kvarken Council EGTC came from energy companies participating in the Bothnia Green Energy project. The rationale is to strengthen cooperation across the entire Kvarken region in the energy sector and create a platform for dialogue between politics, academia, and energy companies. The working committee is tasked with developing an energy agenda and an annual action plan.
– The Kvarken Council’s vision is for the Kvarken region to make the most meaningful global impact through Nordic cooperation, and one of the five key issues identified by the member organizations is to promote green transition in our region. The working committee for energy has a central role in this task, and it carries out concrete activities and initiatives that contribute to regional development and cross-border cooperation. The committee’s efforts also ensure that collaboration continues and stays alive even when there are no current projects bringing the actors together, states Ms Veronica Berg, Development Manager at the Kvarken Council.
Working committees can also include representatives of organizations that are not and cannot become members of the Kvarken Council EGTC. The idea is to effectively listen to needs and ideas from the field and ensure that cooperation initiatives have a regional or local order and recipient.
– The Kvarken Council promotes cooperation across sector boundaries to develop new solutions to complex problems. We work together with academia, industries, and other public institutions to create synergies and innovations that can lead to real societal change. Establishing working committees like this is possible thanks to our EGTC organizational form and is a concrete example of how we apply this relatively new organizational form for us, says Mr Mathias Lindström, Director of the Kvarken Council.
The working committee for energy will consist of the following members from the Kvarken Council’s Board: Joakim Strand (Chairman), Richard Carstedt (Vice Chairman), Stina Mattila, and Evelina Fahlesson. Representatives from energy companies and universities will participate in the working committee on a rotating basis. The following members have been appointed from the region’s energy companies: Jan Ridfeldt, CEO of Umeå Energi, Stefan Damlin, CEO of Vaasan Sähkö, Joachim Nordin, CEO of Skellefteå Kraft, and Kirsi Hautala, CEO of Kokkolan Energia. The following persons have been appointed from the region’s universities: Margareta Björklund-Sänkiaho, Professor of Energy Technology from Åbo Akademi, Dieter Müller, Vice Rector of Umeå University, Hans Erik Nilsson, Vice Rector of Mid Sweden University, and Margareta Groth, Head of Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics at Luleå University of Technology. The last three will participate collaboratively and determine who will attend each meeting.
Kirsi Hautala from Kokkolan Energia, Stefan Damlin from Vaasan Sähkö, Hans Erik Nilsson from Mid Sweden University, Ann-Christine Schmidt from Skellefteå Kraft, Joakim Strand från City of Vaasa, Richard Carstedt from Region Västerbotten, and Lisbeth Fagerström from Åbo Akademi participated in a panel discussion during the Kvarken Council’s annual meeting. Sarah Väre from the Kvarken Council acted as the moderator for the panel discussion. Photo: Julia Rahikka.
Joakim Strand will be the Chairman and Richard Carstedt will be the Vice Chairman of the working committee for energy. Photo: Julia Rahikka.
The Kvarken Council’s board at the annual meeting 2024. Photo: Julia Rahikka.
Read more about the working committee for traffic and infrastructure HERE.
Read more about the Bothnia Green Energy project HERE.
