Gamecraft – 500 million to the owning municipalities

Jämtkraft AB’s annual report was approved by the board of directors on Monday. Profit after tax was SEK 958 million. The Jämtkraft board of directors suggests that just over half of the profits, i.e. 500 million, should be paid to the owning municipalities of Åre, Krokom and Östersund.

– Jämtkraft is a public benefit company that must be run on a commercial basis. The business aspect means that Jämtkraft must conduct profitable business. Public benefit means that Jämtkraft must take on social responsibility when the company is doing well, says Jämtkraft’s chairman, Kerstin Arnemo.

Long term rules of the game

Already last fall, the forecast for the full-year results showed that the result would be close to 1 billion crowns. Since then, contributors and articles have argued about how to use the profits to lower fees and increase rebates. But according to Jämktraft’s board of directors, this is directly at odds with the company’s mission.

– The company’s management needs clear and long-term guidelines and rules for the game. Jämtkraft should not react to sudden and unexpected events, by taking measures that would negatively affect the company’s resources and long-term goals, says Kerstin Arnemo.

Great investments for the future

Jämtkraft continues to invest in renewable energy and in the energy system of the future here in the region. In 2022, the investments will be around 1.7 billion, of which the Hocksjön wind farm was a large part.

– We have an investment budget of $1.5-2 billion per year also for the next few years. Just the new power and heating plant that we build to secure heat supply for the next few decades is an investment of 1.5 billion. Klas Lillegren, CEO of Jämtkraft, says we need a long-term perspective.

What contributed to the company’s large profits was above all the sale of electricity to the Nordpool electricity exchange.

– We ran a lot of hydropower during the fall and winter when prices were high. This production operates normally when needs and prices are at their peak. But other wind and cogeneration production was also very profitable during the year. says Claes Lillegren.

New job – big income

Another relatively new income is support services for Svenska Kraftnät. As more and more of Sweden’s electricity production consists of wind and solar energy, the effect varies more, affecting frequency in the electricity grid. In order to stabilize the frequency, Svenska Kraftnät buys various services from electricity producers who can support.

Support services is a growing area. In addition to hydropower’s ability to help, we’ll also build more battery storage units to be able to help more quickly regulate frequency when Svenska Kraftnät needs it, says Klas Liljegren.