Cooperation strengthens electrical grid for future needs
BUSINESS INSIGHT: INFRASTRUCTURE
In the Infrastructure vertical, Danish and Swedish companies are collaborating on a large wind power project intended to supply electricity to nearly a million households. The companies are supporting each other with resources and expertise, allowing them to more easily adapt their capacity to the project’s requirements. By joining forces, they form a solid supplier to the customer and strengthen their competitiveness.
Wind farms to expand the electrical grid
To strengthen the electrical grid, the Danish Parliament has decided to build several new offshore wind farms. The first of these, which will be located in the North Sea with a capacity of approximately 1,000 MW, will start delivering electricity by 2027 and be able to supply up to one million households.
The construction of the wind farm involves the installation of offshore wind turbines, turbine foundations and internal cables between the turbines. NCC, one of the largest construction companies in the Nordic region, is leading the work to establish the cable connections, which involves installing high-voltage cables of 220 kilovolts long distances underground. Storskogen’s Danish business unit Danboring is a subcontractor to NCC and is responsible for the controlled underground drilling of pipelines for the cables for a total of 42 kilometres. This no-dig method, which involves drilling instead of digging, is gentle on both infrastructure and the environment.
Cooperation secures resources
Several Storskogen companies from the Infrastructure vertical collaborate within the scope of the project; Danboring is the leading party, supported by the Swedish companies NDS and Tofta Gård, which provide machinery and independent drilling teams working under Danboring’s direction. This set-up creates a sense of security – both internally within the project, where capacity can be ensured, and externally toward the customer NCC, who gains a strong counterpart with the ability to adjust resources as needed.
As Storskogen’s representatives on the companies’ boards, we initially recognised that Danboring’s capacity risked becoming strained in such a large project. Consequently, we initiated this collaboration, where the companies could mutually benefit from working together – a strategy that has worked out very well. The companies’ common affiliation and relationship within Storskogen has created an understanding and made price negotiations seamless. It has also been an advantage for Danboring to receive support from its sister companies instead of hiring a Danish competitor.
In recent years, Danboring’s sales have grown by approximately 50 percent, from SEK 110 million to SEK 177 million, largely thanks to this important project. The collaboration has also facilitated knowledge exchange between Swedish and Danish businesses and created an opportunity to take on additional projects together, without being limited by resources or machinery. Our hope and aim is that collaborations like these will continue to add value to the business group in the future.
Niclas Rundlöf
Investment Director, Services
Niclas Rundlöf is Investment Director within Storskogen’s Services business area, where he is responsible for the Infrastructure vertical. Niclas has seven years of experience from various areas within Storskogen and has previously worked as a Transaction Advisor at the corporate finance company Skarpa and as CFO at GSCC Entreprenad.