Equinor Makes Solar Energy Push

Norway's Equinor has bought a 9.7 percent stake in renewable energy producer Scatec Solar, raising its ownership to 10 percent, the state-controlled energy firm said on Thursday.

"The investment in Scatec Solar will increase Equinor’s exposure to a fast growing renewable sector, further complementing Equinor's portfolio with profitable solar energy," Equinor said in a statement.

"This is in line with our strategy to develop into a broad energy company," it said.

It paid 700 million Norwegian crowns ($82.55 million) for the stake, corresponding to about 63.5 crowns per share, a premium of 4.8 percent over Wednesday's closing price on the Oslo stock market.

In partnership with Scatec, Equinor entered its first solar development project in 2017 in Brazil, followed by a second joint project in Argentina in June 2018.

Equinor has also invested heavily in offshore wind turbine projects.

($1 = 8.4799 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by Jason Neely)