Podcast episode highlights significance of last coal mine closure in Longyearbyen, Svalbard

January 26, 2026

Norway is determined to move away from coal and other fossil fuels entirely, but the town of Longyearbyen in the Arctic outpost of Svalbard is literally built around coal and has identified strongly as a coal town for more than 100 years.

In June 2025, the last coal mine in Longyearbyen shut down — not because it ran out of coal, but because the country is deeply committed to trying something else, even if they haven't totally figured out what that something else is yet.

In the most recent episode of “Closing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann,” we head to Longyearbyen to witness an energy transition in progress. Svalbard is diversifying its economy with tourism and research and projects like the Global Seed Vault.

The episode features an extended interview with Mons Ole Sellevold, the renewable project manager for the state-owned coal company that’s no longer mining in the region. It’s his job to get Longyearbyen to its post-coal future. Sellevold is a former Arctic Remote Energy Network Academy fellow. He came to learn how remote Alaska communities are integrating renewables. He’s trying to learn as much as he can, as fast as he can, about transitioning to renewables in the Arctic.

The podcast “Closing the Gap with Gwen Holdmann” brings you stories from the leading edge of the global energy transition twice a month on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It is also available as a broadcast program for public radio stations through PRX. The show is produced and engineered by Tony Williams and written and edited by Jennifer Pemberton.

Contact Pemberton at jcpemberton@alaska.edu with any questions.