Background
This report gives an overview of players in the energy technology ecosystem in Trøndelag. Energy technology is a broad term and is in this report defined as “technology for efficient, safe, and economical extraction, production, conversion, transportation, storage, and use of energy1”.
In addition to the energy technology companies, the report does also summarize the major energy producing companies in the region, such as Equinor, Trønderenergi etc. Companies aiming to produce renewable energy using novel technologies, such as Aneo, are included in the energy technology overviews.
The report will be updated on a regular basis.
Companies developing and selling energy technology
We have identified 139 energy technology companies in Trøndelag. 75 companies deliver oil and gas technology, whereas 64 deliver renewable energy technology. The 139 companies had a total revenue of 10 143 mnNOK in 2021, and employ 3 867 employees as of October 2022. 116 of the identified energy technology companies are located in Trondheim, the remaining 23 in municipalities close to Trondheim (Indre Fosen, Levanger, Stjørdal, Verdal, Orkland, Malvik, Steinkjer, Snåsa and Rindal).
In addition to the 139 energy technology companies, we have identified 96 energy producing companies in Trøndelag. Three are oil and gas producers (OKEA, Aker BP and Equinor Stjørdal), 83 are hydropower producers and 10 are wind power producers.
R&D actors and test infrastructure
In addition to the research and development conducted in the identified 139 companies, we have identified two main performers of R&D related to energy technology in Trøndelag; NTNU and SINTEF.
NTNU and SINTEF are hosting in total 8 FMEs, 4 SFIs and 2 other large reserach centres. Furthermore, we have identified 39 special lab environments at NTNU and SINTEF. There is a vast amount of special lab environments at NTNU and SINTEF. We have included the most relevant ones in this mapping. This R&D infrastructure is available for all types of users throughout the region and offers services and equipment beyond basic needs.
In addition to the R&D performed by NTNU and SINTEF, the identified energy technology companies also conduct own R&D projects. Of the 139 identified companies, 23 companies have as of autumn 2022 202 million NOK of RCN funded R&D projects ongoing.
Clusters, networks and forums
We have identified 9 entities working with issues related to energy technology in Trøndelag, including 3 clusters, 2 networks, 2 innovation companies and 2 interest organizations. Examples of entities include the Renewable Energy Cluster – RENERGY, which has energy technology as their main focus area. The other listed entities have energy technology as focus area, either fully or partly. In addition to the listed actors, there are several industry agnostic incubators, clusters and networks working with business development in the region.
Investors
We have identified 19 existing investors in Mid-Norway, and 2 planned investment activities/funds. Of these 19 investors, 5 investors have invested in some of the 139 identified energy technology companies. The remaining 14 investors have not yet invested in energy technology companies. 5 of them have a stated sector focus that is somewhat related to energy, and 7 of them are industry agnostic.
Public actors
We have identified 5 public actors in this mapping; 4 public actors that provide public funding for research and innovation activities in energy technology companies, as well as 2 public actors involved in concrete energy technology research and innovation projects, as users or policy makers.
1 Defintition by Wärtsila (https://www.wartsila.com/encyclopedia/term/energy-technology)