STATOIL INVESTS IN APODI SOLAR ASSET IN BRAZIL

Statoil has signed an agreement to acquire a 40% share in the construction ready 162MW Apodi solar asset in Brazil from Scatec Solar, a Norwegian independent solar power producer. The project will provide approximately 160.000 households with electricity. Statoil and Scatec Solar have also agreed on an exclusive cooperation to jointly develop potential future solar projects in Brazil.
In addition, Statoil will also acquire a 50% share in the project execution company, enabling Statoil to participate in building and operating solar projects in the future.
Statoil will pay a combined acquisition price of USD 25 million for access to the Apodi solar asset and the project execution company. The construction of the solar plant will start in October 2017 aiming to deliver electricity from the end of 2018. The Apodi asset is located in the municipality of Quixeré, Ceará State in Brazil, and is fully-permitted with grid connection. The asset holds a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) awarded in 2015 at an auction organised by the Brazilian government with an inflation adjusted offtake price equivalent to 104 USD/MWh in 2017.
“As part of Statoil’s strategy to actively complement our oil and gas portfolio with profitable renewable energy sources, we have so far focused on offshore wind where we have a unique competitive advantage building on over 40 years with oil and gas acitvities. The Apodi asset is a sensible first step into the solar industry and can demonstrate how solar can provide Statoil with scaleable and profitable growth opportunities,” says Irene Rummelhoff, executive Vice President of New Energy Solutions in Statoil. (Source: Statoil)