FVB 50 years!

Birger Abrahamson, Design Manager at Tekniska Verken, now Mälarenergi, starts the consulting company Fjärrvärmebyrån AB.

As early as the 1950s, the city of Västerås introduced a new technology for heating households, something called district heating. This was entirely new at the time, but the expansion of district heating grew rapidly, first in the larger cities and then, from the 1970s, outside those as well.

Birger Abrahamson naturally saw a business concept in this development and took three young engineers with him from Tekniska Verken and started Fjärrvärmebyrån.

• Köping
• Tekniska Verken
• AB Aroskraft
• SFAB
• Rörsystem
• Granit & Betong

Subsidiary established in the U.S. In the ‘70s, FVB was contacted by a professor from the U.S. The Americans feared a gas shortage in the U.S. and wanted to look closer at opportunities for energy efficiency. This led to a major research assignment in Minnesota and led to FVB starting a subsidiary in 1980, FVB District Heating, later FVB Energy Inc.

During the years 1983-1985, FVB designed the first modern hot water system in the U.S. in St. Paul, Minnesota. A system that later won awards. Today, St. Paul has both biofuel cogeneration and district cooling, thanks to FVB.

Office opened in Stockholm. A very large part of our market is in the Stockholm area with customers like Stockholm Energi, SFAB, Sollentuna Energi, Järfälla Energi, and more. It became necessary to be closer to this market to continue expanding. When our head of the office in St. Paul returned home, he was made responsible for starting an office in Edsberg, in Sollentuna Municipality.

FVB becomes employee owned. The founder Birger Abrahamson owned the company until 1983, when the state-owned Studsvik purchased the company in stages until FVB was a wholly state-owned company in 1986. In 1991, Studsvik’s shares are transferred to Vattenfall, which FVB employees did not respond well to. Continuing as an independent actor would have been difficult, almost impossible, while being owned by the largest player in the energy market, Vattenfall. The staff purchases the company and all 25 employees get the opportunity to become shareholders and do so.

FVB conducts the first research of district cooling and introduces district cooling technology in Sweden. The research is for the country in general, but the pilot area is the city of Västerås, which also becomes the first city in Sweden with district cooling. FVB’s research is awarded Stora Energipriset 2003 by the newspaper Dagens Industri.

Subsidiary established in Edmonton, Canada.
FVB designed a large district heating and district cooling system in Edmonton as early as 1991, and in 1992 established the subsidiary FVB District Energy, today called FVB Energy Inc.

FVB designs Canada’s first biofuel-based district heating system in Oujé-Bougoumou, an indigenous community.

The first district cooling system was put into operation in Västerås during this year.
Since then, FVB has cooled Stockholm, Södertälje, Amsterdam, Calgary, Las Vegas, Bahrain, and Qatar, among others.

Starting in 1993, FVB conducts technical and economic studies that form the basis for the World Bank loans offered to a number of cities in the Baltic countries to fix up outdated and inefficient district heating systems. The study in Tartu, Estonia, where Sweden’s 2nd university was founded in 1632, is followed up in the ‘90s with studies in Riga, Daugavpils, and Jelgava in Latvia.

Office opened in Borås. A Ph.D. in district heating calls and says he is thinking about changing jobs. After some research, he concluded that FVB was the most interesting candidate. Therefore, we opened an office in Borås and made a major investment in research and analysis.

One of our engineers in Canada comes back to Sweden and helps us open an office in Nyköping.

We have major assignments in the construction of the Brista CHP plant.

Foto: Per Pixel Petersson/Borås stad

Our head manager for Canada moves back to Sweden and is made responsible for our newly established subsidiary FVB District Energy, which will operate our projects abroad.

• We open another office in Canada, this one in Toronto.
• Our North American employees become partial owners of the subsidiaries.
• Large aquifer storage for cooling is built in Sollentuna.
• The office in Västerås is expanded.

FVB contributes to an adjunct professorship in district heating system technology at Chalmers University.

Expansion in Linköping through the acquisition of TD Tech AB. Through the purchase of TD Tech, a consulting company with offices in Linköping and Västerås, we gain a presence in southern Sweden as well as increased expertise in the biogas and process industries.

Major assignments are conducted in district cooling. We have major assignments in Latvia and Moldova.

A number of computer programs have been developed to support analysis and streamlining of both entire district heating systems and system components, such as production optimization all the way to the customer, lower return temperature, automatic status check on lines, and short-circuit flows.

2002: Office opened in Gävle.

FVB changes its name. As part of ongoing technological development, a broader set of services, and the stronger international commitment, FVB Fjärrvärmebyrån changes its name to FVB Sverige AB. The main reason for the name change is that the company works with so much more than just district heating. The expertise in district cooling and cogeneration has been in the company for a long time and with new customer groups in property management and industry, the new name is no longer connected to a specific technology.

Our expansion in the northern part of Sweden continues through the purchase of REGA Energiplanering AB with offices in Sundsvall. Through the acquisition, in addition to greater accessibility and presence in south Norrland, we also get expertise and experience in energy optimization of properties and industrial facilities.

Leif Breitholtz takes over as CEO of FVB Sverige.

FVB establishes an office in Bahrain. The assignment is to manage, plan, and design district cooling facilities for eleven skyscrapers with associated pools, shopping centers, and restaurants. Because of Bahrain’s high outdoor temperatures, sometimes over 50 degrees Celsius, there is a major need for reliable and environmentally friendly district cooling.

Continued expansion in Nyköping through the acquisition of ZW Energiteknik AB. Through the acquisition, FVB is primarily strengthened in system efficiency, applied research, and studies.

FVB reaches 100 employees in Sweden.

Office opened in Vancouver in Canada.

FVB designs district heating for the Olympic Village in Vancouver. The solution was to install heat pumps in the main drain from the city which passes near the Olympic Village. The facility is an important case study for FVB, with the entire world as a spectator during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Office opened in Örebro.

FVB, together with Bizcat, beat the international competition and won a commission to research opportunities to invest in district cooling in the city of Christchurch in New Zealand. This is not only a new feather in FVB’s cap, but also a recognition of Swedish know-how in the district heating and district cooling area, with a strong focus on the systems and sustainability perspective.

Office opened in Gothenburg. A new organizational department is formed called FVB Syd. It consists of our offices in Borås, Linköping, and Nyköping.

Office opened in Ottawa in Canada.

FVB has 6 consultants working full time with Mälarenergi’s new waste fuel cogeneration block, one of the largest in Sweden.

Subsidiary established in England.

Drone assignments start in earnest after a change in the law excludes drones equipped with cameras from the camera surveillance law.

Office opened in Malmö.

Office opened in Reading in England.

FVB celebrates 50 years and looks to the future, where sustainable energy solutions are an important driver. Today, FVB has 150 employees in nine different offices in Sweden, and more colleagues in the offices in the U.K., Canada, and the U.S.

Together with our customers, we continue our journey towards smarter solutions that increase efficiency, reduce costs, and reduce environmental impact.