Statkraft CEO: Statkraft will sell assets in 3 countries

Statkraft's CEO announced on Wednesday that the Norwegian utility, Europe's biggest renewable energy producer and Statkraft's state-owned subsidiary, would sell assets in India as well as Croatia and The Netherlands, to concentrate the group's investment on fewer markets.

Statkraft announced its strategy in June and cut its growth goals for solar, battery storage, and onshore wind, as well as their offshore wind and hydrogen ambitions.

Statkraft CEO Birgitte ringstad Vartdal said that the company would divest of its onshore solar, battery and wind business in Croatia and The Netherlands but keep its Dutch trading operation.

She added that the Netherlands was an established market with relatively few projects, and other locations were more profitable.

Statkraft is also selling its solar and hydropower assets in India. The company has been operating in this market for over 20 years, and still sees huge growth potential each year.

Vartdal stated that "if we want to be able to make a significant impact in the country we will need to invest significantly each year. This would mean we have to prioritize this market over other markets."

The CEO did not elaborate on the matter, but said that it would happen "overtime".

Statkraft is now focusing on its core markets, which are the Nordics and Europe, and, outside of Europe, on South American markets Brazil Chile and Peru.

Statkraft will also change its organisational structure on Jan. 1. It will eliminate its New Energy Solutions unit and introduce a unit dedicated to Technology and Project Delivery.

Vartdal stated that the latter would increase the group’s competitiveness through building scale, increasing standards, reducing complexity and improving cost-efficiency.

The CEO said that "in a world where digitalisation, AI and other technologies are opening up new opportunities for us, a close collaboration between our IT organization and operations is key to strengthening our competitiveness." (Reporting and editing by Terje Sollsvik, David Evans and Nora Buli)

(source: Reuters)