Ventos de Santa Eugenia wind power complex in Brasil with a capacity of 519 MW (photo: Statkraft)
Norway-based Statkraft has decided to leave India, the Netherlands and Croatia, as well as to reorganize its management, with the changes coming into force on January 1, 2025.
As part of the sharpened strategy that it unveiled in June this year, Statkraft said it is divesting of its onshore wind, solar and battery businesses in the Netherlands and Croatia.
The company revealed that over time it would also sell its hydropower and solar assets in India, allowing it to focus on high-potential markets in the Nordics, Europe, and South America, and deliver on its ambitious growth targets.
Just five months ago Statkraft acquired the Croatian portfolio of French renewables developer Neoen. The deal was for about ten projects. “These are all projects in early development stages,” Arnaud Bellanger, Country Manager for Croatia and France at Statkraft, told Balkan Green Energy News at the time.
Vartdal: Despite geopolitical tensions and inflation, the cost competitiveness of renewable energy is driving strong growth in all energy market scenarios
The company started its Croatian operations in 2021. In 2020 it acquired British solar power firm Solarcentury, which had already started activities in the country, and the following year Statkraft opened an office in Zagreb.
Regarding the new decisions, Statkraft’s President and CEO Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal said that despite geopolitical tensions and inflation, the cost competitiveness of renewable energy is driving strong growth in all energy market scenarios as projected by Statkraft and leading analysts, and argued that it means profitable growth opportunities worldwide.
“Statkraft has built a strong position as Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy and a significant player in selected markets in South America, with an attractive portfolio of profitable renewable projects and a track record of profitable investments and solid returns. We have already sharpened our strategy to allocate capital to our core business, and now we are focusing our investments on fewer markets. This will build scale and strengthen our competitiveness and value creation,” she said.
Further sustainable growth in India would require major investments
Statkraft has a profitable portfolio of renewable energy assets in operation and development in India, according to Vartdal. However, the company assessed that further sustainable growth in the country will require major investments, she explained. “Outside Europe we will dedicate new investments to South America, where the opportunities to achieve scale and leverage our core capabilities are strong,” Vartdal said.
Of note, in India the company operates hydropower plants Allain Duhangan (192 MW) and Malana (86 MW) and solar park Nellai (76 MW) while the Tidong hydropower project (150 MW) is under construction, as is 75 MW in solar power in the state of Tamil Nadu.
“In Europe, we will continue to build a strong position in renewable energy. We are optimizing the portfolio to build scale, strength, and profitability in high-potential markets,” Vartdal stressed.
Statkraft said it would reorganize its management to further support the sharpened strategy.
The three geographical business areas – Nordics, Europe and International – and business area markets remain in place. A new business area, named technology and project delivery, will be established while the current new energy solutions business area will be discontinued.
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