Harald Mix has what he describes as a “big hairy goal”: to set up enough green companies to reduce global emissions by 1 per cent himself. And the Stockholm-based private equity executive has found the perfect place to do it: northern Sweden.
Blessed with copious green energy from its extensive network of hydropower, the far north of the Scandinavian country has experienced nothing short of a green rush. Thousands of people have flocked to this often snow-covered region that straddles the Arctic Circle to work for companies using the surplus power, such as battery maker Northvolt and H2 Green Steel, set up by Mix and business partner Carl-Erik Lagercrantz. “It is a Klondike situation, where the gold is green electricity,” says one executive working there.
For Mix, cutting emissions in sectors such as steel, cement, transport and residential heating requires “re-industrialisation” on a massive scale, bringing together some of the world’s biggest investors and companies with entrepreneurs, green technology, government subsidies and large amounts of renewable energy.