Statkraft plans to invest heavily in new hydro and wind projects in coming years, both in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe. The Norwegian utility wants to become a niche-player on the European scene, providing peak-hour electricity through its abundant hydropower capacity.

Statkraft plans to invest NKr 90bn up to 2015 mainly in hydro and wind power in Scandinavia and the UK, but also in the Balkans.

The company has asked for new guidelines from the Norwegian state to fulfil these plans. Norway has habitually taken almost all Statkraft’s profits as dividend, which means the company lacks the financial strength needed for a further expansion in renewable energies.

Statkraft has asked for NKr 8bn in new equity and also asked the government to be allowed to keep more of its profits.

“We have a dialogue with our owners on this”, says president and chief executive Bård Mikkelsen.

The government has yet not given any clear signals about how they will handle the request.

A swap agreement with E.ON boosted Statkraft’s profits to NKr 33.3bn last year. E.ON took over Statkraft's 44.6% shareholding in E.ON Sverige and a hydropower plant in Sweden in exchange for assets and 4.17% of the shares in E.ON.

The entire transaction was worth around NKr 44bn and gave Statkraft a recognised gain of NKr 25.6bn in the fourth quarter. The transaction had a limited impact on liquidity, but makes Statkraft Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy and one of the biggest single shareholders in E.ON.

Underlying profits also improved to NKr 8.1 bn from NKr 7bn in 2007. Total revenues for the year were NKr 25.1 bn, an increase from NKr 17.6bn. The improvement is ascribed to higher electricity prices and higher output levels.

“The group strengthened its position as a flexible producer of environment friendly electricity in the Nordic and Continental markets,” says Mikkelsen.

Statkraft Wednesday announced that it will take part in a consortium with partners StathoilHydro, RWE-subsidiary npower, and Scottish and Southern Energy for a bid in the Round Three of offshore wind projects in the UK.

The company also has ambitions to develop hydro -projects on the Balkans, solar energy projects in Italy and Spain, and invest in onshore wind in Sweden. Through its subsidiary SN Power, Statkraft also has a renewable portfolio in Asia and Latin America.

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