Norway’s Småkraft and Norsk Grønnkraft (NGK) are to merge in plans announced by Aquila Capital, creating one of the largest operators of small-scale hydropower plants in Europe.
The newly created entity will be known as Småkraft and consist of 90 hydropower plants in operation with an annual production of just under 1 TWh. Simultaneously, a separate company, Småkraft Utbygging, will be formed to solely focus on the construction and rehabilitation of small-scale hydropower plants.
“The merger is the next logical step to further consolidating our existing hydropower operations in Norway,” explained Oldrik Verloop, Managing Director at Aquila Capital and Board Member at Småkraft. “Also, with the formation of a dedicated hydropower construction firm we aim to build five to ten plants every year and with that contribute to increasing the share of renewables in the European energy mix. We are confident that Småkraft will be one of the leading hydropower players in Europe and these developments underline our interest and engagement in the sector.”
Småkraft and NGK are wholly financed by Aquila Capital’s investment vehicles, including its dedicated European Hydropower Fund as well as that of the Dutch partner APG, the asset manager of ABP, one of Europe’s largest pension funds investing in hydropower assets.
The merger is expected to be effective from January 2017.
