Statkraft sticks to renewables growth ambitions as power prices plunge
Europe's 'biggest renewables company' wants to achieve stellar green expansion rate by mid-decade
Known as Europe’s largest renewable energy producer due to its vast hydro-power assets, Statkraft said a strong performance in energy management and market activities helped the company deliver solid results in the third quarter even though power prices were significantly down from last year, when they spiked as a result of the war in Ukraine.
The company said its underlying earnings before interest and taxes were down 46% on the year at NKr4.9bn ($439m), as Nordic power prices fell 84% and German prices declined 76% from the rates prevailing in the same quarter of 2022.
However, Statkraft said its post-tax profit was up 16% from one year ago, at NKr4.4bn.
“The market conditions have changed significantly compared to the extreme prices in the third quarter last year, fuelled by the energy crises and the war in Ukraine,” Statkraft CEO, Christian Rynning-Tonnesen commented on the results.
“However, Statkraft delivered stable operations, value-creating energy management and profitable market activities, all contributing to maintaining solid results despite much lower prices."
The Norwegian utility said it had continued to ramp up project activities in pursuit of its ambition of adding 2.5-3.0GW of renewable energy capacity per year from 2025, then increasing this rate to 4GW by 2030.
In offshore wind, Statkraft has plans to build up 10GW of capacity by 2040, focusing on the UK, Ireland, Norway and Sweden at first, with the possibility of expanding this growth into continental Europe at a later stage, Rynning-Tonnesen said.
The current annual rate of accretion is still closer to 1GW per year, Statkraft said, adding that develop encompasses a broad portfolio of hydro, wind, solar, and battery projects, mainly in the Nordics and Europe.
The newly-acquired Swedish portfolio consists mainly of early-phase projects with a total potential of up to 21GW of offshore wind and 16-17GW of onshore wind.
The company’s other acquisitions included a solar and wind project development portfolio of 758MW in Ireland and a final investment decisions for the 176MW Clonfad solar project, in the same country.
In Germany and France, Statkraft acquired 39 operational wind farms with a total installed capacity of 337MW and potential for life-time prolongation and repowering.
In Brazil, Statkraft acquired full control of its subsidiary Statkraft Energias Renovaveis (SKER) from Funcef, the third largest pension fund in the country, and agreed to buy two operating wind farms with a capacity of 260MW with potential to add additional solar, the company stated.
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