PowerPlay — Complementarity formation and local effects of the Nordic battery value chain

Project Description

Background

Battery technologies are central to the global energy transition and are attracting major public investments worldwide. This localisation push raises important questions about supply security, industrial policy and local impacts.

PowerPlay addresses those questions within the Nordic context, combining socio‑economic, spatial and environmental analyses.

Objectives

Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the economic, social and environmental impacts of the Nordic battery value chain, and of how policy-makers and industry actors can handle the trade-offs between socio-economic-ecological considerations.

• Examine the development of battery value chains in Norway, Finland and Sweden to assess whether the Nordic countries have complementary resources that can support successful collaboration between them;
• Analyse the social, economic, and environmental impacts that the development of a battery industry would have on host regions in Norway;
• Support the development of evidence-based policy for the assessment of battery projects to enable maximization of benefits and reduction of harm going forward.

Research questions

• In what ways are the emerging Nordic battery value chains supported by complementarities between the different Nordic countries?
• How will the emerging battery value chain impact the economy, society and natural environment of host regions in Norway?
• How can policy frameworks at different levels – EU, Nordic, national, regional – be designed and implemented to ensure the maximization of benefits and the minimization of costs, thereby promoting a just and rapid development of BVC?

Case regions

Empirical work will focus on three Norwegian case regions: Mo i Rana, Arendal and Haugaland.

Downloads

Intro slides (pptx)