Vattenfall is turning the sounds of its fossil-free energy portfolio into a communication tool as part of its new “Fossil-Free Symphony” campaign. The company worked with composer Jacob Mühlrad to convert recordings from eight projects and energy sources into a classical composition, including material from Stornorrfors, Sweden’s largest hydroelectric power plant and the future site of what Vattenfall says will be the world’s first fossil-free steel dam gate.
The composition draws on audio collected from across Vattenfall’s operations — from “the subtle whirring of the wind turbines in Lillgrund” to work on fossil-free steel and near-zero-cement solutions. Hydropower also plays a central role. Sounds captured at Stornorrfors were used as a basis for specific musical elements, highlighting the project where Vattenfall plans to install the steel dam gate in 2028.
“Every successful investment in fossil-free energy contributes to strengthening Sweden’s competitiveness, which is based on a good mix of fossil-free energy sources. Water for stability, wind for volume and nuclear power as a base. A bit like an orchestra where different instruments interact to create sweet music, which we hope is experienced in the Symphony,” commented Jens Berggren, climate coach at Vattenfall.
Mühlrad said the project allowed him to work with raw industrial and environmental audio in a new way: “I try to filter the world through music and it is interesting to me to transform what is not music into music. In the collaboration with Vattenfall I had the opportunity to explore this in an unexpected way. The result was a musical reflection on the fossil-free soundscape, what the sounds represent and what they tell us about our time.”
