Statkraft, Europe's largest producer of renewable energy, will further strengthen its core competitive advantages by prioritising its flexible hydropower fleet in the Nordics, industry-leading market operations – and solar, wind and battery activities in Europe and South America.
Last year, after Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal took over as CEO, Statkraft sharpened the company’s strategy by focusing on fewer technologies and markets to build scale and strengthen competitiveness and value creation. While the underlying drivers remain strong, the energy transition is moving at a slower pace due to increased global uncertainty, higher costs and lower power prices. The new strategy continues to focus on core activities, placing near term cash flow over volume growth, and reducing complexity and cost.
'By concentrating on our core competitive advantages and prioritising investments in near term profitable opportunities, we will be able to continue our growth and value creation, while contributing significantly to the energy security and energy transition,' says Statkraft President and CEO Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal.
The company has an ambition to invest NOK 16–20 billion annually in the coming years, including large hydropower capacity upgrades in Norway, and maintenance of the large operational asset fleet and onshore wind power developments in Sweden and Norway. In Europe and South America, Statkraft has a large pipeline of projects and will continue to grow in solar, wind, batteries and grid services, but at a lower growth rate than previously planned.
As announced in May, Statkraft will stop new development of hydrogen projects. In offshore wind, Statkraft will stop further activities in new projects, including the upcoming allocation round of Utsira Nord in Norway. Development of the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) project will however continue. Statkraft has also decided to assess its investment position in solar, wind and batteries in Poland and will close down development activities in Portugal. The market activities will continue in both countries.
'At this time, Statkraft will prioritise our financial capacity on near term profitable technologies, such as solar, wind and batteries in fewer markets. We have been successful in developing an attractive portfolio in several European markets. As we need to prioritise, parts of the portfolio will benefit from getting new owners. Offshore wind will play an important role in the power mix in Europe, but the pace of development of the industry has been slower than previously forecasted, and this has impacted the ability to drive down costs in the short term,' Vartdal says.
These measures will be in addition to the previously announced and ongoing divestment processes for e.g. the district heating and biofuels activities in the Nordics, the development business in Croatia and the Netherlands, and the business activities in India.
By focusing on fewer technologies and countries, Statkraft aims to decrease the complexity of the company and reduce payroll and other operating expenses with around NOK 2.9 billion annually by 2027. This is a 15 percent reduction compared to the estimate for 2025. The exact cost efficiency measures, including redundancies, will be identified through the annual business planning process that takes place in the second half of the year.
'Statkraft needs to adapt to the changing market and increased geopolitical uncertainty. Unfortunately, this also impacts our most important asset: Our people. We will do what we can to limit uncertainty and mitigate negative effects on employees,' says Vartdal.
Statkraft has delivered strong value creation, paid NOK 59 billion in dividend to the owner and more than doubled its equity value to well over NOK 300 billion since 2018.
'Statkraft’s portfolio of complementary renewable technologies across regions, coupled with deep market understanding, gives us a strong position to continue our value creation, contribute to energy security, and play an important role in the energy transition. As we mark Statkraft’s 130th anniversary this year, we are keeping a long-term perspective. Although the ongoing geopolitical challenges might delay the energy transition, it will not stop it,' says Vartdal.
Source: Statkraft
