Company
Kabelvärden #2 2023: North Projects wants to be number one in Sweden
Dec 19, 2023![Johan Liljegren at North Projects at charging points in a garage in Gothenburg.](/.imaging/mte/nexans-theme/1150x713/dam/nexans-se/Pictures/Other_Övrigt/Pictures-from-Kabelvarden/2023/2023/Nexans_NorthProject_1170.jpg/jcr:content/Nexans_NorthProject_1170.jpg)
Johan Liljegren på North Projects.
More and more electric vehicles are rolling on Swedish roads. Read about e-mobility the new issue of Kabelvärden.
New charging points are being built everywhere – not least fast chargers for cars and heavy vehicles that require large amounts of electricity. We visited North Projects in Gothenburg, a company aiming to be the largest in Sweden in installation, service, operation and maintenance of charging infrastructure.
Successful strategy
It started with North Projects installing a fiber network for a condominium association in Gothenburg in 2019. In connection with that, they were asked if they could also help with charging poles in the association's parking lot.
– We can, replied CEO Marcus Graiter.
One small catch was that the company had never installed vehicle chargers before. But that particular question was never asked and Marcus Graiter had a good network of people with the right knowledge. Soon well-functioning chargers were in place.
The question from the condominium association actually came with perfect timing. Within North Projects, they had started discussing what would be the next big rollout after fiber and concluded that it had to be infrastructure for vehicle charging.
So with the first chargers in place – and thus a reference project – they were ready to start.
– We focused on a few of products. We took apart boxes, connected to cloud solutions and went down to the molecular level to really understand what it was we were doing. We also came to the conclusion that we should primarily focus on condominium associations and private individuals.
– For the condominium associations, we found an overall solution with installation and software for payment services which made it easy for the associations to administer the charge, says Marcus Graiter.
A good plan
This turned out to be a brilliant strategy. Today the company has 24 employees, turnover is around 75 million SEK and in the summer of 2022 the company was bought by Transtema, a major company in communication solutions. As part of Transtema North Projects is represented in 85 locations in Sweden.
Now we have also gone back home and refined the business to installation, service, operation and maintenance. Thus, we have a natural role to take care of this within the Transtema Group. The goal is to become Sweden's largest independent supplier in those areas, says Marcus Graiter.
Related document
![Marcus Graiter CEO North Projects](/.imaging/mte/nexans-theme/600x800/dam/nexans-se/Pictures/Other_Övrigt/Pictures-from-Kabelvarden/2023/2023/Nexans_NorthProject_820.jpg/jcr:content/Nexans_NorthProject_820.jpg)
What does electrification mean for Nexans?
What does electrification mean for Nexans?
Nexan's goal is to contribute to electrification. This is done, among other things, by supplying good cables for charging infrastructure Nexans can today contribute with all the cables that are in demand for charging infrastructure - from coarse mains cables and installation cables down to telecommunications and fiber cable.
The combination cables EQLQ Easy Styr and MXQ Easy Styr with power and signal for control within the same sheath have long been a bestseller. Deliveries to charging infrastructure make up a large part of Nexans Sweden's turnover.
According to Jonas Brännström, product manager for power and installation cable, the trend is increasingly powerful charging with chargers of 150–550 kW. Nexans can meet this development.
— Through our cables AXQJ Easy and FXQJ Easy, Swedish-produced cables of up to 300 mm2 adapted for a Nordic climate, we meet the need for higher effects.
When it comes to the last bit, from inverter to charger, customers usually choose the RXQ cables with more efficient copper conductors over aluminum conductors.
— It often involves short pieces, around twenty metres. Then it pays to use copper conductors, which can be loaded harder and are easier to connect. Aluminum has only 60 percent of copper's conductivity, says Jonas Brännström.
Important to keep up
However, the development is going fast and is being followed closely from Grimsås.
— Not least, we look at all new models of chargers that are launched and that make it difficult to see future needs regarding control and connection. Therefore, an important part of our job is to interview manufacturers to keep up, says Jonas Brännström.
Kabelvärden is in Swedish only. You can read the whole story in the pdf at your right.
Our websites
Select your country to find our products and solutions
-
Africa
- Africa
- Ghana
- Ivory Coast
- Morocco
- North West Africa
- Americas
- Asia
- Europe
- Oceania