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05/10/2017

Acquiring Share In 162 Megawatt Brazilian Facility, Oil And Gas Giant Moves Into Solar




Acquiring Share In 162 Megawatt Brazilian Facility, Oil And Gas Giant Moves Into Solar
The next aim of Statoil is to enter the global solar market.
 
A 40 percent share in the "construction ready," 162 megawatt (MW) Apodi solar asset in Brazil, is being acquired and an agreement has been signed to that effect, the Norwegian energy business announced recently.
 
Shares from Scatec Solar, an independent solar power producer based in Norway, would be acquired by Statoil, the company said in a statement. The aim of the agreement was to see them jointly work on "potential future solar projects" in Brazil and the two businesses had agreed on an "exclusive cooperation" between them, the statement said.
 
"Brazil is a core area for Statoil where our ambition is to deliver safe and sustainable growth in a significant energy market," Irene Rummelhoff, Statoil's executive vice president for new energy solutions, said in a statement.
 
With the target of producing electricity from the end of next year, construction on the facility, in the northeastern state of Ceara, will commence this month. The project is set to send electricity to around 160,000 households.
 
"As part of Statoil's strategy to actively complement our oil and gas portfolio with profitable renewable energy sources, we have so far focused on offshore wind, where we have a unique competitive advantage building on over 40 years with oil and gas activities," Rummelhoff said.
 
"The Apodi asset is a sensible first step into the solar industry and can demonstrate how solar can provide Statoil with scalable and profitable growth opportunities," she added.
 
When it comes to renewables, Statoil has been looking to expand its horizons. The installation of the final turbine on its Dudgeon wind farm in England was announced by the company in September.
 
The business and the process of providing renewable electricity to over 1 million homes in Europe was "well on its way", Rummelhoff said at that time. while Statkraft and Masdar are partners with 30 and 35 percent shares, respectively, Statoil is the project's operator with a 35 percent share.
 
It was the same that International Energy Agency (IEA) said that new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity increased by 50 percent in 2016 that news of Statoil's foray into solar energy segment reached the markets. The world was witnessing the birth of a "new era in solar PV," said the IEA's executive director, Fatih Birol.
 
(Source:www.cnbc.com) 

Christopher J. Mitchell

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