Norsk Solar AS

Norsk Solar sees significant organic and inorganic growth in our South Africa portfolio, and strengthens relationship with Valinor

Norsk Solar has developed a portfolio of solar power projects in South Africa, whereby the largest and most mature to date is a 315 MW solar PV project located in the northern part of South Africa. Norsk Solar has secured land lease rights, completed the initial Environmental Impact Assessment and is now working on the in depth Environmental & Social Impact Assessment. The project has received its Cost Estimation Letter ("CEL") from the authorities, which is an important milestone in the viability of the project.

Valinor, the owner of 46,86% of the shares in Norsk Solar, has developed a portfolio in South Africa along with its local partner Musina Flair Generation. The most mature projects in this portfolio consist of a 300 MW solar PV project as well as a 300 MW wind project, both located in the Northern Cape province. These projects have secured land lease rights, 4 out of 5 sites have received Environmental Authorizations and are awaiting their CEL. Valinor, Musina Flair Generation, and Norsk Solar have today agreed on a term sheet for combining these two projects with Norsk Solar's 315 MW solar project in South Africa into a joint venture. This transaction is intended as an equity-in-kind settlement which will see the creation of a joint development company between the partners in South Africa. Norsk Solar will, subject to due diligence and finalization of the transaction, own 26% of the JV. This gives Norsk Solar rights to a large portfolio combining solar, wind and battery energy storage systems, and is an important step in the revised strategy of the company. Norsk Solar will be the project developer of the 915 MW portfolio with support from its JV partners. The Financial Close is planned to take place within the next 12-24 months. Norsk Solar will continue its close collaboration with Valinor as the largest owner in the combined portfolio. This is further strengthened through a Memorandum of Understanding signed with a sister company, Norsk Vind, which is Norway's largest private wind power company. Norsk Vind will provide critical access to competence, experience and capacity within the wind domain.

"We are excited to move beyond solar energy with our significant organic and inorganic growth in South Africa and we are very pleased with strengthening our relationship with Valinor and other sister companies in the group," says Norsk Solar CEO Torbjørn Elliot Kirkeby-Garstad.

Through the joint ownership in the Nordic Impact Cooperation ("NIC"), Norsk Solar (34%), Norfund (33%) and Finnfund (33%) have agreed to expand their relationship in Vietnam with a joint development agreement, making Norsk Solar better positioned to accelerate its growth in Vietnam. Norsk Solar will continue to manage both the growth efforts and the asset management in the country on behalf of NIC.

Norsk Solar is happy to announce that NIC has made an investment decision, subject to certain CPs, on the Órigo II project, which will be transferred to, and jointly financed by, the NIC Platform. The off-taker Órigo Energia is the leader in the Distributed Generation market in Brazil. Norsk Solar, in partnership with NIC, has successfully commissioned the first 18 MW and started constructing the next 9 MW in the 37 MW Órigo portfolio. Furthermore, Norsk Solar has an ongoing dialogue with Órigo Energia to include additional development projects to the pipeline.

Norsk Solar  :  Press Release 2023-11-02

Norwegian firm Norsk Solar AS (FRA:62L) announced it has brought online the first plant of the 37-MW multi-site Origo solar PV project in Brazil after getting approval from Brazilian utility Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais SA (BVMF:CMIG4), better known as Cemig.

The first solar plant is part of the 18-MW Origo 1 (Uberlandia 2) solar PV project located in the municipality of Uberlandia in the state of Minas Gerais.

The Origo 1 project consists of six different sites and is the first of three projects where the Nordic firm is acting as the sole independent power producer (IPP) and is in charge of the development, financing and construction.

The Origo 1 (Uberlandia 2) plant already has a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with local distributed generation company Órigo Energia.

The development and construction of the projects are done in partnership with GDSolar. The other five sites are expected to be brought online in the next month, Norsk Solar said in a statement on Monday.

Norsk Solar AS

Norsk Solar : Press Release 2023-11-02

Norsk Solar launches first site of 37-MW solar complex in Brazil