Statkraft joins ranks of the wind giants with acquisition of Swedish players
Norwegian renewables giant in double swoop for Swedish onshore and offshore assets
Statkraft, already Europe’s largest renewable energy producer thanks to its vast hydro-power assets, has acquired two project developers with massive onshore and offshore pipelines in Sweden – turning the Norwegian state-owned utility into a wind power giant.
The developers – Svevind Nordic and Njordr Offshore Wind – have a development pipeline of 16GW (on land) and 21GW (at sea) respectively.
Svevind’s projects are in Sweden’s electricity pricing zone SE1 and 2SE, in the north of the country, where the 600MW Hästliden project is currently with the Swedish government for necessary approvals.
“We are tremendously happy to be able to strengthen our operations with a group of extremely competent employees who, together with the project portfolio, will make an important contribution to our ambitions to grow in onshore wind power and not least to the industrial development in Northern Sweden,” said Jakob Norström, CEO of Statkraft Sweden.
CEO of Dresden-based Svevind, Wolfgang Kropp, added: “In Statkraft, Svevind Nordic gets a strong owner who can continue the important work we have done and progress the project pipeline while providing for a continued positive work environment for the employees.”
With the Markbygden acquisition, Statkraft now has a hand in two of Europe’s largest wind farms.
10GW ambition
Njordr Offshore is a joint venture between central Swedish wind power companies Njordr and Vindkraft Värmland, which have a portfolio of nine projects off Western Sweden, in the Baltic Sea and in the Gulf of Bothnia, between Sweden and Finland.
“The Nordic countries to a large extent form a common energy market, said David Flood, senior vice president for offshore wind at Statkraft.
"With an estimated need for a doubling of the electricity supply by 2045, Sweden is of particular interest for us,”
“It fits well with our strategic ambition to grow within offshore wind with an ambition to have 10GW in operation in Europe by 2040.
“This deal comprises an attractive portfolio which gives Statkraft the opportunity to contribute to delivering more renewable energy to Sweden, one of our focus markets.”
With a total capacity of 21GW, Njordr’s Swedish offshore wind projects could have an expected annual production of over 80TWh per year.
“Njordr Offshore Wind has been a pioneer within offshore wind in Sweden, establishing a strong project team and a significant project pipeline by utilising the project origination expertise of Vindkraft Värmland,” Njordr chairman Anders Hærland said.
“This transaction validates Njordr's strategy and how we are able to realise significant value from taking early positions.”
Work is now starting to integrate Svevind Nordic and Njordr Offshore Wind into Statkraft's operations, the company said.
The Njordr Group also has operations in onshore wind and solar power in Sweden, Norway and Finland. These activities are not covered by the transaction.
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