Polar Capacity offers local solutions to the capacity shortage

The infrastructure company Polar Structure acquires 80 percent of Effektbolaget i Sverige AB through a rights issue. Effektbolaget i Sverige AB will change its’ name to Polar Capacity AB as a result of the acquisition, and aims to become a national capacity operator. As such it will, through local solutions for storing, adding, and balancing power, offer industries and municipalities new ways of managing the imbalances within the energy system.

– The investment in Polar Capacity is an important step towards our ambition to build an ecosystem of sustainable solutions that can accelerate the green transition. Being able to offer local solutions that solve the capacity shortage enables municipalities and companies to grow cheaper and faster than if they had to wait for national solutions to be implemented. We are ready to invest billions in this, says Tobias Emanuelsson, CEO of Polar Structure.

Polar Capacity is founded by a group of people with significant collective knowledge of the Swedish and international energy markets. Between them they have decades of experience in business- and strategy development, executive management and board work. The CEO of Polar Capacity, Patrik Nilsson, has worked at Vattenfall and Fortum and comes previously from positions as CEO of Knowit, Sustainable Innovation and Kamstrat. Fredrik Karlsson, who works with strategy and public affairs at Polar Capacity, was previously VP of Corporate Communications, and a member of the management team of the Generation Division, at Fortum. He has also worked as an energy consultant at WSP.

On the Board of Directors sits, among others, Nils Nygren, former Chairman of the Board of Nord Pool Spot ASA and CEO at Stockholm Elnät AB. Also on the board is Peter Nygårds, an advisor with extensive experience from Swedish business and public sectors, including positions such as State Secretary at the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, CEO of SKB, Senior Vice President at Swedbank, former Chairman of the Board of Vattenfall, Saab, and Fjärde och Femte AP-fonden. Peter Nygårds has also headed a number of government committees, including the so-called ‘Fjärrvärmeutredningen” (district heating).

The idea behind Polar Capacity rests on the insight that the massive changes taking place on the energy market increase the need for new ways of working together.

– The electrification of both the transportation sector and industrial processes will lead to a higher demand for electrical power. At the same time, a rising percentage of solar and wind power causes a greater volatility – and less predictability – in power production. This creates a growing demand for solutions that take local needs and prerequisites into consideration, says Patrik Nilsson.

Polar capacity will work together with municipality-owned energy suppliers and energy-demanding industries to create solutions that add and manage capacity for clients.

– We have already signed letters of intent, and we have ongoing dialogues with several local energy suppliers and energy-demanding industries regarding solutions for their specific energy needs. Thanks to our unique collaboration model we can also increase the municipalities’ influence on issues such as the establishment of new industry and property development.

Ernest & Young has acted as financial advisor in the transaction and will continue to advise Polar Capacity on future acquisitions, investments, and financing.

– Polar Capacity is an exciting new actor in a niche that is growing fast thanks to the transition of the energy sector. Given what we have seen during this acquisition process we are looking forward to helping Polar Capacity in the coming years, says Niclas Boberg, partner and Nordic Energy M&A leader at Ernest & Young.