Two heads of state, one Alfa Laval

On 31 January, Alfa Laval welcomed some very special guests to its site in Lund: His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and His Excellency Emmanuel Macron, President of France.

A day for the history books

As part of a French state visit to Sweden focusing on the energy transition, Alfa Laval showcased its technologies which can help propel energy efficiency and clean energy. A particular focus was on heat exchangers, which are vital piece of the energy transition puzzle, including the world’s first heat exchanger made from fossil-free steel (named Concept Zero). The visit included a tour of our heat exchanger factory – the largest in the world.

Alfa Laval’s connections with France go back a long way. As Alfa Laval CEO Tom Erixon said in his welcome speech: “We have a long lasting and strong relationship with France. This has intensified over the last years, driven by innovation and the common goal of supporting the green transition. We have been present in France for more than 100 years, with both sales offices, R&D and production facilities. We employ more than 1000 people in 6 locations in France. We were even founded by a Swedish man of French descent Mr. Gustaf de Laval.”

During the visit the Swedish minister of Education Mats Persson and France's Minister for Higher Education and Research Sylvie Retailleau representing the two countries also signed a letter of intent establishing collaboration between Sweden and France regarding nuclear energy research. “Alfa Laval has supplied the nuclear industry since 1964,” said Madeleine Gilborne, Head of Clean Technologies and VP Energy Division. “Today more than 4 000 Alfa Laval heat exchangers can be found in 70 percent of all existing nuclear power plants.”

Alfa Laval’s business strategy is rooted in supporting the sustainable transformation across its Energy, Food & Water and Marine divisions. Our goal is to create positive impact through our technologies. Today, half of all energy produced in Europe is not used and goes to waste. It was a great honour to be able to explain to the King and the President that we have the technologies which are already doing so much to change this and help transform the energy landscape.