Aquila Capital acquires Norwegian hydropower facilities operator

Aquila Capital, an alternative private equity firm, has bought a Norwegian hydropower facilities operator Norsk Grønnkraft.

Norsk Grønnkraft is an operator of 33 small-scale plants in central and southern Norway.

Aquila Capital acquired the firm from owners Akershus Energi, Energiselskapet Buskerud, E-CO Energi and Østfold Energi.

The average age of each of the small scale plants, which produce 210 GWh of energy annually, is eight years.

This purchase expands Aquila Capital’s presence in Norway’s hydropower battery network.

Earlier, Aquila had bought a 33% stake in Tinfos, operator of two large-scale and nine small-scale run-of-river hydropower facilities, and 33% equity in Jørpeland Kraft, an operator of two run-of-river installations at Stavanger.

Aquila Capital hydropower co-head Oldrik Verloop said: "We aim to increase our production volume in Norway during the next five years to over 1,000 GWh.

"Aquila Capital clients currently have a share in more than 50 hydropower generating facilities in Norway and Turkey. We are actively looking at further opportunities across Europe and expect to be making more investments in the course of 2015."

According to media reports, Norway is close to agreeing to construct a 700 km underwater power line that will allow the UK to import hydroelectric power from the country’s grid.

The world’s largest subsea interconnector is expected to become operational by 2020.