7. Affordable and clean energy

Sweden generally has good access to energy and a relatively high share of renewable energy. However, recent years have highlighted a geographical imbalance between the north and south of the country in terms of energy access, as well as a sharp increase in the price of electricity, which affects both households and businesses (Glokala Sverige n.d.).

The goal in a local context

The City of Malmö is primarily a user of energy but also a producer. The municipality can, for example, actively work to promote efficient use in its own operations, procurement requirements for energy-efficient products, promote local production of sustainable energy and reduce the climate impact of local district heating. In 2024, the City of Malmö decided to proceed with the plan to form a new fully municipality owned company with the aim of, among other things, strengthening the municipality's control over energy supply. The initiative is also considered important for the municipal council's objective that Malmö should be supplied with 100 per cent recycled and renewable energy by 2030 (Stadskontoret, Malmö stad 2024).

What it looks like in Malmö

Access to sustainable energy for all

Access to sustainable, reliable and renewable energy for all is essential for our modern society to function. Forecasts indicate that Malmö will continue to have a high population growth and a high growth in new jobs, while the electrification of society is increasing. All in all, this means that the need for electricity will increase. When electricity, heat and vehicle fuels are produced, converted and used, a large proportion of the world's greenhouse gas emissions are generated. Malmö is no exception and around 80 per cent of direct emissions within Malmö's geographical area are linked to energy production and fossil vehicle fuels.

Total energy use per inhabitant in Malmö has decreased in recent years and was 18.5 MWh per person in 2022. Energy use includes households, transport, industries, agriculture, forestry, fishing, public activities and other services. In total, energy use per inhabitant in Malmö has decreased by 38.1 per cent between 1990 and 2022 (Miljöbarometern n.d.).

Malmö's ability to ensure continued good access to energy for all is currently affected by a lack of capacity in the electricity grid in the country. The capacity shortage is because most electricity is generated in northern Sweden, while the greatest use of electrical energy is in the southern parts, where most of the population lives. This puts a strain on the electricity grid and at times there is a risk that sufficient power will not be available. Both a strengthened electricity grid in Sweden and more new electricity production in southern Sweden are required. Malmö's lack of capacity makes it difficult to establish new energy-intensive industries and can lead to power shortages in the municipality and, in the worst case, disconnection, which is also a safety risk. To address capacity shortages and prevent electricity shortages, the end use of energy needs to become more efficient while the share of renewable energy produced locally needs to increase. In 2024, the City of Malmö decided to establish a fully municipal owned energy company as a way to meet these needs.

Increase the share of renewable energy

The share of renewable and recycled electrical energy in Malmö increased slightly between 2020 and 2022, from 75 per cent to 78 per cent (Miljöbarometern n.d.). A majority (66 per cent in 2022) comes from renewable energy such as solar and wind power and biogas, and a smaller share (12 per cent) of the energy has been recycled from, for example, waste incineration, residual heat from industries and waste heat recovered from heat pumps from Sjölunda wastewater facility. For heat production, the share of renewable and recycled energy decreased marginally from 94 per cent in 2020 to 93 per cent in 2022 (Miljöbarometern n.d.).

The largest amount of recycled energy comes, in Malmö's case, from the incineration of waste in Sysav's combined heat and power plant (Miljöbarometern n.d.). The waste burned in this plant can be divided into waste from fossil sources and waste from biogenic sources. Biogenic waste is waste that consists of biomass. Biogenic and fossil waste generate carbon dioxide in the same way when they are burned. The difference is that biogenic carbon dioxide can be seen as part of a cycle where the carbon dioxide is captured when new biomass grows, for example in forests, and thus does not contribute to enhancing the greenhouse effect. In 2023, Sysav estimated that approximately 53 per cent of the carbon dioxide emitted from the incinerator in Malmö came from biogenic sources (Sysav 2024).

One challenge Malmö faces, for expanded energy production, is about space. New local electricity production competes for space with other interests the city has, such as the preservation of agricultural land or construction. One way to deal with this could be to use roof space for electricity production. This also has its challenges, as cultural values or technical building conditions are not always present on roofs suitable for solar electricity.

Indicators

7.1 Share of renewable and recycled energy, %

7.2 Power outages, average outage duration per customer, minutes per customer

7.3 Renewable and recycled energy production, GWh

7.4 Final energy consumption per resident, MWh per resident

7.5 Total final energy consumption, MWh

7.6 District heating production from renewable energy sources, percentage (%)

7.7 Fossil energy, City of Malmö, percentage (%)

7.8 Net electricity production, MWh per capita

References

Glokala Sverige (u.å.) Arbetsbok – Agenda 2030. Tillgänglig: https://fn.se/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Arbetsbok_Glokala_Sverige_2021.pdf

Miljöbarometern (u.å.). Miljöbarometern. Tillgänglig: https://malmo.miljobarometern.se/

Stadskontoret, Malmö stad (2024). Bildande av Malmö Energi och Hållbarhet AB. STK-2023-865.

Sysav (2024). Miljörapport 2023. Tillgänglig: https://www.sysav.se/media/5ebj4j4n/milj%C3%B6rapport-2023-ema.pdf