Heat and Power Association

What Heat and Power Association does

Värme- och kraftföreningen (VoK), doing business in English as the Heat and Power Association, is a Swedish non-profit member association (ideell förening) established in 2012 and headquartered at Dalagatan 7 in Stockholm. The organization serves approximately 100+ member companies operating in the Swedish energy sector, forest industry, and other energy-intensive industries, with about 50 of those members additionally participating in the Kompetensgruppen (Competence Group) working network. Its core mission is to provide a dedicated platform for operational experience sharing, professional networking, and knowledge exchange within the Swedish combined heat-and-power sector, addressing fragmentation by enabling member companies to document, share, and learn from damages, near-misses, and operational best practices.

VoK's service portfolio is organized as an integrated ecosystem rather than a discrete product suite. The association operates three recurring annual conferences — Panndagarna (the largest, attracting approximately 200 participants), Värme- och Kraftkonferensen (held as part of Energi- & Industridagarna), and Kompetensgruppens temadag — alongside two member-access registries: the Drifterfarenhetsregistret (operational experience register) for incident and near-miss data, and the Anläggningsregistret (facility register) for technical specifications of member plants. A scholarship program launched in 2012 awards 25,000 SEK annually to thesis work at Swedish universities (Linköping, Chalmers, KTH, Lund) and channels recipients into the Panndagarna conference. In June 2026 the Skadegruppen working group was rebranded as Kompetensgruppen to reflect an expanded mandate covering near-misses and collaborative problem-solving.

Revenue is generated primarily through recurring membership fees from approximately 100+ corporate members and transaction-based conference registration and exhibitor fees, with non-member rates priced 25-40% above member rates (e.g., Panndagarna 2024: members 6,100 SEK vs. non-members 8,500 SEK). Distribution is exclusively direct to members via the association's website (vok.nu), email communications, LinkedIn, and the annual conference circuit; no channel partner or reseller model exists. The association has no parent company, no external investors, and operates independently as a private non-profit under Swedish law.

Name

Heat and Power Association

Legal name

Värme- och kraftföreningen

Website

https://vok.nu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Värme- och kraftföreningen (VoK), or Heat and Power Association, is a Swedish non-profit member association founded in 2012 that serves approximately 100+ energy companies, forest industry firms, and energy-intensive industrial companies through annual conferences, operational experience registries, and a thesis scholarship program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: VoK generates revenue through membership fees from approximately 100+ member companies in the energy sector, forest industry, and energy-intensive industries.
2. Conference fees: Annual conferences including Panndagarna (approximately 200 participants), Värme- och Kraftkonferensen, and Kompetensgruppens temadag generate revenue through participant registration fees and exhibitor fees.
3. Scholarship funding: VoK distributes annual scholarships of 25,000 SEK to thesis projects within the association's area of interest, funded through the organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Värme- och kraftföreningen (VoK) is a non-profit member association that runs annual industry conferences (Panndagarna and Värme- och Kraftkonferensen), maintains the Kompetensgruppen professional network for sharing operational damages, near-misses and experiences, and operates member-only knowledge registries (Driftserfarenhetsregistret and Anläggningsregistret). It also funds an annual thesis scholarship (25,000 SEK per project) for research within the Swedish heat and power sector.

Product overview

Värme- och kraftföreningen (VoK) is a non-profit association for companies in the energy sector, forest industry, and other energy-intensive industries. The association operates as a unified offering centered on professional networking and knowledge sharing, rather than a traditional product company. Its core services include organizing three annual conferences (Panndagarna, Värme- och Kraftkonferensen, and Kompetensgruppens temadag), managing a scholarship program, and operating competence-sharing networks including the Kompetensgruppen and associated registries for operational experiences and facility data. The portfolio functions as an integrated ecosystem where conferences serve as meeting platforms, the competence group facilitates experience exchange, and registries document collective learning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Panndagarna Annual conference highlighting technological development within power and heat production, covering policy instruments, environmental issues, fuels, and maintenance; attracts approximately 200 participants from energy companies, Swedish forest, and process industry.
• Värme- och Kraftkonferensen Annual conference held in mid-November in Stockholm as part of Energi- & Industridagarna alongside Matarvattenkonferensen and Sodahuskonferensen; covers strategic issues for the combined heat and power sector and current laws and policy instruments.
• Kompetensgruppen (formerly Skadegruppen) Professional network for energy companies and industries with steam and hot water plants for electricity and/or heat production; focuses on sharing damages, near-misses, operational questions, and experiences through a simplified reporting system. The Competence Group has approximately 50 active participants out of the 100+ member companies.
• Stipendium (Scholarship Program) Annual scholarship of 25,000 SEK per thesis project awarded to encourage degree projects and research within the association's areas of interest; recipients present their research at Panndagarna.
• Driftserfarenhetsregistret (Operational Experience Registry) Member-only registry for collecting and sharing operational experiences, damages, and near-misses from member companies to promote learning and improve operational safety.
• Anläggningsregistret (Facility Registry) Member-only registry for documenting and tracking facilities operated by member companies, including technical specifications and operational data.
• Kompetensgruppens temadag Themed day / conference organized for the Kompetensgruppen membership (~50 active participants), featuring knowledge exchange among members of the Competence Group.

Quantifiable outcome

• Annual scholarships of 25,000 SEK per thesis project awarded to support industry-relevant research
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Linköpings universitet (Linköping University)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012VoK partners with Linköpings universitet for thesis scholarships. Several scholarship recipients have conducted thesis work in collaboration with the university, including 2025 recipients Otto Hultin and Sixten Landin for work on waste sorting and climate benefits.
• Chalmers Tekniska Högskola (Chalmers University of Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVoK maintains a partnership with Chalmers for thesis scholarships. Multiple recipients including 2020 scholarship winners Amanda Åström Ericsson and Stina Ströby, and 2017 winner Simon Öberg, conducted thesis work at or in collaboration with Chalmers.
• KTH Royal Institute of TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVoK partners with KTH for thesis scholarships. Recipients including 2018 winner Malin Stauber Alfredsson and 2019 winner Jens Bjervås conducted thesis work at KTH.
• Lunds Tekniska Högskola (Lund University)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVoK partners with Lund University for thesis scholarships. 2015 scholarship recipients Emma Winqvist and Linda Martinsson conducted their thesis work at Lund University.
• Energi- och Industridagarna (organizers)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVoK co-organizes the Värme- och Kraftkonferensen as part of the larger Energi- och Industridagarna event in Stockholm alongside Matarvattenkonferensen and Sodahuskonferensen.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• EURACOAL: European association for coal and lignite interests; adjacent enabling peer relevant to VoK members still operating solid-fuel CHP, though operating at a continental rather than national scale.

Direct peers

• Svensk Fjärrvärme (Swedish District Heating Association): National trade association for Swedish district heating and CHP operators; competes for the same member companies and the same conference audience (Panndagarna vs. Fjärrvärmedagarna) as VoK.
• Energiföretagen Sverige: Swedish energy industry trade association representing electricity and heat producers; directly comparable to VoK in serving as a member-funded industry body for Nordic energy companies, though broader across electricity supply chains.
• Svebio: Swedish Bioenergy Association; member-funded body promoting bioenergy, with overlapping member base among forest-industry and district-heating operators served by VoK.
• Skogsindustrierna: Swedish Forest Industries Federation; directly comparable industry association serving forest companies, several of which are also VoK members seeking bioenergy and CHP experience exchange.

Regional players

• Norsk Bioenergi: Norwegian bioenergy association; comparable trade body serving Nordic bioenergy and heat/power producers in a different national market from VoK's Sweden-only footprint.
• Energiateollisuus (Finnish Energy): Finnish energy industry trade association; same member-funded trade-association model as VoK but serves the Finnish CHP and district-heating market rather than Swedish.

Emerging players

• Avfall Sverige: Swedish Waste Management industry association; comparable because waste-to-energy CHP plants overlap heavily with VoK's member base on combustion and operational-experience topics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/v%C3%A4rme-och-kraftf%C3%B6reningen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heat and Power Association