Norway's Statkraft to sell assets in three countries, CEO says
Statkraft to sell assets in India, Netherlands, Croatia
Core investment focus is Nordics, Europe, South America
Introduces new business area for Technology and Project Delivery
By Nora Buli
OSLO, Oct 23 (Reuters) -Norwegian state-owned utility Statkraft, Europe's largest renewable energy producer, will sell energy production assets in India, Croatia and the Netherlands to focus the group's investments on fewer markets, its CEO said on Wednesday.
The plan follows a strategy announcement in June, when Statkraft cut its growth targets for solar, onshore wind and battery storage as well as its offshore wind and hydrogen ambitions.
The company will divest its onshore wind, solar and battery business in Croatia and the Netherlands, but retain its Dutch trading operations, Statkraft CEO Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal told Reuters.
The Netherlands was a mature market with relatively small projects and other locations offered better profitability, she added.
Statkraft will also sell its hydropower and solar assets in India, a market it has been active in for 20 years and with the company still seeing huge growth potential every year.
"If we are going to have a meaningful position in the country, it would require us to have significant investments each and every year and that would mean that we would have to prioritise that over many other markets," Vartdal said.
The divestment will happen "over time", the CEO said without elaborating.
Statkraft's key focus is now on its core markets in the Nordics, Europe and - outside of Europe - on South American markets Brazil, Chile and Peru.
From Jan. 1, Statkraft is also changing its organisational structure, axing its New Energy Solutions business area and introducing a unit for Technology and Project Delivery.
The latter will increase the group's competitiveness by building scale, increasing standardisation, reducing complexity, and improving cost efficiency, Vartdal said.
"In a time where digitalisation and AI opens new opportunities, close collaboration between the IT organisation and operations are key to strengthen our competitiveness," the CEO added.
Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik and David Evans
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