E-World 2022: Statkraft achieves strategic growth targets ahead of schedule

Energy group sees itself equipped to significantly drive the transformation of the European energy system 

"This is an important milestone on our way to becoming one of the global leaders in renewable energy," said Dr Gundolf Dany, Statkraft’s Country Manager in Germany. Statkraft markets a third-party portfolio of more than 20,200 MW of renewable energy in Europe, of which 12,000 MW in Germany alone are covered by the EEG and almost 1,000 MW as PPAs. This corresponds to around 20 percent of the total wind capacity in Germany.

Solutions for the European energy transition

Against the backdrop of the current energy crisis and advancing climate change, Statkraft believes it is strategically well positioned to play a key role in driving forward the necessary transformation of the European energy system. "Europe is facing the major challenge of massively accelerating the expansion of renewable energy – in order to achieve climate targets and become less dependent on fossil fuels. We can address this challenge with very concrete solutions," said Dany. "We will build an organisation capable of developing and building 1,500 to 2,000 MW of wind, solar and grid service projects in Europe every year."

To this end, the Norwegian energy company is pursuing several complementary approaches: Through targeted acquisitions and the development of greenfield projects, Statkraft has so far developed solar projects in the order of 1,700 MWp worldwide and has a solar pipeline of another 6,400 MWp in Europe alone. In the wind sector, Statkraft has grown in recent years, especially in the UK, Ireland, and Norway. Statkraft has a pipeline of 4,000 MW onshore wind  in Europe. In Germany, however, the company did not announce its market entry as a developer until 2019.

Thanks to its flexible power plant portfolio and its leading position as an energy marketer, Statkraft is able to successfully integrate developed wind and solar farms into the energy market and provide grid-stabilising services. 

Growing business with green power solutions 

Statkraft is consistently expanding its role as a bridge builder between the different needs of power producers and power consumers of renewable energies in the energy market. With the conclusion of numerous power purchase agreements, the company has enabled the financing and operation of around 2,000 MW of subsidy-free renewable capacity over the past two years, of which 700 MW in Germany alone. On the consumer side, the company has developed  further as an industry partner for commercial and industrial large-scale consumers who want to achieve sustainability and climate targets as well as price hedging in times of high electricity prices.

Necessary political course-setting in Germany

Statkraft welcomes the ambitious climate targets in Europe, as well as the intended accelerated approval and improved repowering procedures in Germany. In the company's view, these will make it possible to overcome the stagnating expansion of renewable energies. "The amendment of the EEG sets important accents for a successful energy transition. However, it is of central importance that this is not jeopardised by fundamental interventions in the market design," said Dany. Above all, the high willingness of market participants to invest in renewable energies must not be slowed down.

Furthermore, modern gas-fired power plants should not be questioned as a bridging technology on the way to a CO2-free energy supply. In the case of pumped-storage power plants, Statkraft believes that the opportunity to exempt them from grid fees was once again missed. "The classification of pumped-storage power plants as simple end consumers does not do justice to their function as grid stabilisers for the flexible balancing of the rapidly growing share of volatile electricity generation. The associated high grid fees entail medium to long-term risks for the existence of these indispensable plants," said Dany.