Sunny day for Statkraft as Solarcentury joins the team

Following Statkraft’s acquisition of Solarcentury in November 2020, the renewable energy pioneers have continued working towards an ambitious vision to achieve a world run entirely on renewable power. Solar energy is the fastest growing renewable power sources in the world. Solarcentury’s projects span high-growth markets in Europe and South America, and may support solar energy investment in Scandinavia in the future, where the solar market is less developed.

Statkraft has a target to develop 8 GW of wind and solar by 2025. Since the acquisition of Solarcentury in late November, the two businesses have already made significant progress towards this target.

Over the last six months, Solarcentury finished construction on 550 MWp, achieved key milestone permits for 1.22 GWp and submitted planning for another 423 MWp, including 110 MWp in the UK.

In April 2020, solar energy generation in the UK broke the record, reaching 9.68 GW and meeting almost 30% of power demand. Globally, solar capacity has grown 27 times over the last decade and solar energy is expected to become the world’s largest source of electricity from 2035, according to Statkraft’s 2020 Low Emissions Scenario. In 2050, solar power is expected to account for 38% of global power generation. On Earth Day last week, we saw the UK announce a new legal target to slash emissions by 78% by 2035 and the US pledge to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030. To meet these targets, solar power innovation will play an extremely important role.

Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal, EVP European Wind and Solar at Statkraft?said:?? “We are delighted to bring the Solarcentury team into Statkraft. The integration of our teams will help us become one of the leading renewables companies in the world. To limit carbon emissions and transition away from fossil fuels we need significant transformation in our energy systems. Investment in renewable energy production – including solar and wind energy – and a greener grid are essential to every country’s journey to reach net zero.”

Barbara Flesche, former CEO at Solarcentury and now CFO, European Wind and Solar at Statkraft, commented:

“Our team are thrilled to continue to grow as part of Statkraft. During Solarcentury’s 22-year history the business helped solar power become mainstream, and our projects generated 6 billion kWh of clean electricity, saving over 1.7 million t of CO2 emissions. As part of Statkraft, our position in the market is stronger than ever as Europe’s largest renewable energy producer.” ?

Solarcentury’s team is now fully merged under the Statkraft brand and integrated into operations in Europe and Latin America.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/solar/03052021/sunny-day-for-statkraft-as-solarcentury-joins-the-team/