Statkraft has purchased 18.69% of the shares in its Brazilian subsidiary Statkraft Energias Renováveis (SKER) from Fundação dos Economiários Federais (Funcef), the third largest pension fund in Brazil. With this purchase, Statkraft becomes the 100% owner of SKER.
SKER has been present in Brazil since 2009, headquartered in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina. Currently it controls 14 hydro power plants and 4 wind farms in the country, with approximately 450 MW of installed capacity in operation. It is is also executing on an ambitious growth strategy, investing around 3.4 billion BRL in 600 MW of wind power under construction, and it recently acquired 260 MW of operating assets. SKER is looking to continue its growth through greenfield construction as well as acquisitions.
SKER is in the final stages of constructing the Santa Eugênia wind complex, located in Bahia, the northeast region of Brazil. The renewable energy production of the complex is expected to reach 2300 GWh per year, from 14 wind farms totalling 91 wind turbines each with a capacity of 5.7 MW.
In the state of Bahia, Statkraft is also constructing the greenfield wind project Morro do Cruzeiro, an expansion of the operational Brotas de Macaúbas wind complex. The expansion consists of 14 turbines with an installed capacity of 79.8 MW. Given the excellent wind conditions in the region, the project is expected to generate 386 GWh of renewable energy per year. Both of these ongoing projects are financed with resources from the Banco do Nordeste do Brasil (BNB).
Last month, Statkraft announced the signing of an agreement with EDPR, a renewable energy developer and operator based in Madrid, to purchase two wind farms in Brazil. This transaction, together with the acquisition of Funcef’s shares, is an important part of Statkraft's global growth. Based on projects under construction, in acquisition and operation, Statkraft will soon reach 1.3 GW of installed capacity in Brazil.
Statkraft also obtained approval recently for seven solar projects with a total installed capacity of 228 MW in Bahia. The solar projects are extensions of the wind farms Brotas de Macaúbas, Morro do Cruzeiro and Santa Eugênia.
