From Music to Geothermal: A Journey from Sweden to Taiwan

I'm from Sweden and grew up in the countryside. My career actually started in the music industry. When I was 15, I moved to a small city with a large music festival.

Alexander Helling, CEO at Baseload Capital

Interview by Mei-Hsu Shih, Xin-En Wu

Managing music festivals and establishing multiple overseas companies

　　Baseload Capital, a Swedish company specializing in geothermal energy development and technology provision, established its subsidiary Baseload Power in 2018. With operations in four countries including Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and Iceland, the company develops and operates geothermal power plants sustainably. Alexander Helling, the current CEO of Baseload Capital, began his career in the music industry before transitioning to establishing companies in foreign markets.

　　At the age of 19, Alexander Helling took over the management of music festivals and gained management experience. At 22, he was sent by his school to Shanghai for an exchange program, with the condition of staying in Shanghai for five months and then returning to work in the music industry. "When I arrived in Shanghai, I started working at the Swedish Trade Council and established a Swedish company within a week. That was in 2005, and it was a very interesting time in Shanghai," said Helling.

　　Thus, five months turned into a year, and a year turned into nearly ten years of residence in Shanghai. During that time, Helling did a lot of work, becoming skilled in equity, debt structure, and project financing, establishing several companies in Shanghai, and gaining a deep understanding of how to build structures and raise funds.

　　After returning to Sweden, Helling became the Chief Financial Officer of a technology company: "The company's technology converted low temperatures into electricity. During a trip to Iceland, we met local developers who had resources but no funding. And the company who had the technology has no way to finance it. So we came up with the idea, which was about solving the problem of a market that has resources, and existing technology, but no money." It was at this point that Helling began to invest in and understand the geothermal market.

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