Joining forces for a green transformation of the industry in Vestland.
A video describing how we need to join forces for the green transformation of the industry.
What is Green region Vestland?
Joining forces means meeting people and companies, seeing what they do and talking about plans and future investments.
Industrial symbiosis and barriers
The project emphasizes industrial symbiosis as a strategy to achieve goals, starting with the reuse of resources within existing production and value chains, extending to collaboration with customers and suppliers, and further to joint use with other companies in new value chains.
The four main barriers identified by the industry for green transition are insufficient access to power and renewable energy, significant investment needs, access to competence in a tight labor market, and unresolved issues regarding land access.
Green region Vestland is a project and initiative aiming at helping and promoting the green transformation of the industry in Vestland County. The project is owned jointly by Vestland County Council and Innovation Norway. It aims to unite efforts for a green transition, focusing on green infrastructure, access to capital, land, power, and the right competence.
The project has identified 19 Green Hubs within 8 value chains, encompassing over 300 planned projects. These hubs are clusters where multiple business entities collaborate and are geographically anchored to facilitate resource sharing.
A core principle of the project is the "bottom-up" approach, starting with inquiries into the industry's planned green transition projects and the main obstacles or barriers to realizing these plans. This approach led to the creation of the “Vestland portfolio” (or "Vestlandsporteføljen”), a collection of individual projects located in strategic green hubs.
Green region Vestland operates with a hypothesis-based approach, gathering, analyzing, and sharing information to address common challenges, promote optimism, and provide advice, network access, and competence. It prioritizes resource use and respects others' priorities, challenging hubs to act and achieve results.
The industry in Vestland is a significant contributor to value creation and national exports, with a strong power production capacity. However, challenges include insufficient power availability where needed and the highest carbon emissions among Norwegian counties, with the largest single emission site at Mongstad.
Industrial symbiosis illustrated.