Equinor Buys into Solar Firm
In the latest example of oil and gas firms diversifying into renewables, Norway's Equinor has acquired a 9.7% stake in Oslo-based Scatec Solar for kroner 700mn ($82.4mn), taking its stake to just over 10%.
It announced the share acquisition November 15. Equinor has been a partner of Scatec Solar for the past two years in South America, where it entered into solar development projects in Brazil and Argentina.
Over a decade or more, Equinor has developed a sizeable offshore UK wind portfolio, including three projects that it operates totaling 749 MW. It is also a shareholder in the E.on-operated 378 MW Arkona wind farm in the German area of the Baltic Sea, and has several other wind projects in the pipeline.
Scatec Solar, an integrated independent solar power producer, produces electricity from operating plants with installed capacity of 357 MW and has another 1,057 MW under construction. The company has a project backlog and pipeline of around 4.3 GW under development in the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Other major oil and gas producers have already invested in solar, not least Total, which owns a 66% stake in US solar developer SunPower. Shell and BP also have interests in renewable firms.