15 Sep 2022

Linnovation Breaks the Ice for Green Electricity

A smart innovation that can become an important part of the green transition - worldwide. The company of the month is Skellefteåbolaget Linnovation.

The master inventor from Skellefteå has held over 300 patents, built European Championship-winning racing cars in Burträsk and contributed to reducing robberies against cash-in-transport. But 80-year-old Kjell Lindskog has far more innovations in him - with the company Linnovation he will now solve the problem of ice formation on wind turbines.

- It is inspiring to work with a young and promising innovator who has just turned 80, says Magnus Orregård, co-owner and business developer at Linnovation.

New Smart Technology

Together with entrepreneurs Liselott Bruse and Örjan Berglund, CEO Lars Tarberg and founder Kjell Lindskog, Magnus Orregård will now take Linnovation from a promising innovation to the world market. To help them, they have, among other things, Skellefteå Kraft, which assists with wind turbines for testing and development of the product.

- In the wind power industry there are major problems with ice. A large part of wind power production takes place during the winter, but if there is too much ice, the rotor blades are damaged or cannot be driven. With our concept, the heat can be regulated and keep the ice away, and a web-based alarm system warns if there is a risk of ice on any section of the blade, says Magnus Orregård.

Kjell Lindskog's innovation started with safety fluids and will now improve wind turbines all over the world.

Many Areas of Use

Linnovation is based on the same technology that Kjell Lindskog once developed to create safety bags, knitted copper wire embedded in hard composite. The security bags were a success, the company was sold, and the bag is used today in 22 countries where it has contributed to almost ending cash-in-transit robberies. With the huge investments being made in wind power in the green transition, Linnovation could become Kjell's (thus far) biggest and most important success.

The field of application for Kjell Lindskog's innovation is growing. Right now, heated stretchers are being developed and tested for the Armed Forces.n.

- Kjell wouldn't be Kjell if he hadn't already found lots of additional uses for the technology, it could be for heating roofs, for airplanes, underfloor heating, bathrooms, stretchers with built-in heating - the potential is enormous. But there are long processes and product development costs money, now we have to find ways to scale up the business, says Magnus Orregård.

Important Collaborations

Through the collaboration with North Sweden Cleantech, the Linnovation team continues to expand its network and gets in touch with other companies and innovators who have made a similar journey. The financing of Linnovation's development has so far come from Kjell Lindskog himself, Skellefteå Kraft, the Swedish Energy Agency and Vinnova. Now Linnovation wants to produce a number of simpler products such as smart door mats, to generate income that can finance the further development of the wind power project. In parallel, the collection of measurement data to present to major international investors continues.

– Having Skellefteå Kraft on board is an important stamp of quality and the opportunity to test at their facilities is a prerequisite for being able to develop the product. It will continue this winter, says Magnus Orregård.