The Dutch pension fund ABP has invested in Swedish energy giant, Stockholm Exergi (SE), taking a 20.5 per cent stake.

The company is the largest supplier of heating and cooling in Sweden and one of the largest energy companies in Scandinavia. ABP, which made the investment through its manager APG, has invested €1bn in the company for its 20.5 per cent share.

It has collaborated with PGGM, AXA and two Scandinavian pension investors as part of its investment. Together, the consortium bought 50 per cent of the shares in the company.

APG senior portfolio manager, Carlo Maddalena, said: “SE supplies heating and cooling to approximately 800,000 households in Stockholm. It is an important company for Sweden. The Stockholm Municipality owns the other 50 per cent of SE.”

He added that SE is a “frontrunner” in sustainable heat supply for the Stockholm region.

“They are 100 per cent fossil-free; they have stopped using traditional forms of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. They now use a wide range of energy sources, including biomass (but only wood leftover from other uses and certified to green standards), waste (but first reused and recycled to ensure compliance with EU regulations), renewable biofuels and heat recovery (e.g. recycled heat collected from data centres and sewage flows).”

It has set itself the target of being CO2 positive in four years' time and plan to achieve this by capturing and storing more CO2 than they emit.

“The plan is to safely store CO2 in empty oil and gas fields deep underground. This technology is called carbon capture and storage. SE is involved in a large-scale trial and wants to further roll out this technology in the near future,” Maddalena said.

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