This Is Encouraging Statkraft Plans To Invest Up To 8 Billion In Renewables

I know that 8 Billion sounds like a lot of money but in reality it is just a drop in the bucket when you consider the energy economy as a whole. When I first started in renewables a 1 million project was huge and I thought wow we have really made it. As I matured in the industry and started learning about energy from a holistic view point I really understood how large the economics of energy were. It was in the Trillions and a Million project was chump change to the real players. Fact is the most often rebuttal I heard for investment to my projects were that if it was not over 20 Million they were not interested. We were looking for a couple Million to build a project and the oil boys would spend many millions a day just investigating new sources. It was all tied to returns and if you could not show great returns on investment than really there was no interest. In the last few years renewables has matured and can now offer stable, long term, high returns for investors due to several factors. The price of renewable components have been drastically reduces and our ability to integrate into the grid has substantially progressed. Fact is many of the advancements in smart grid technology has come about exclusively due to the engineering of integrating renewables into the grid.

Originally posted at bloomberg.com

By Alex Morales Dec 22, 2014 7:45 AM PT

Statkraft AS, Norway's state-owned power company, said it plans to plow as much as 60 billion kroner (8.1 billion) into renewable energy around the world in the coming years after the government boosted its funding.Norway's parliament on Dec. 11 approved a government proposal to boost the equity of the parent company Statkraft SF by 5 billion kroner, the company said today in a statement on its website. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries will also cut the dividend it gets from Statkraft by another 5 billion kroner from 2016 through 2018, it said.The cash will enable Statkraft to leverage more capital in the market and make investments totaling as much as 60 billion kroner, mainly in wind and hydropower projects, the company said. It's operating in countries from Peru to India."We are working on concrete projects in all countries where we operate," Chief Executive Officer Christian Rynning-Toennesen said in the statement. "The projects are primarily within hydropower and wind power, but we are also exploring opportunities within solar energy and biomass."Statkraft said it's invested more than 27 billion kroner in renewable power projects since 2010. Statkraft said it plans next year to make investment decisions on the the 162-megawatt Rapay hydropower project in Peru and the Fosen/Snillfjord wind power plan in Norway. It's also working with Tata Power Co. on plans to develop a 420-megawatt hydropower project in India, and is examining hydro and wind options in Brazil.To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in Lima at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net Tony Barrett

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