Norway wealth fund invests further in renewable energy

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, financed from taxes paid by the nation's oil and gas industry, said Tuesday it had bought a stake in solar plant and wind farm projects in Spain from Iberdrola.

It is the fund's second direct investment in renewable energy infrastracture since the Norwegian parliament authorised such investments in 2019.

The latest deal will see the fund -- which has more than 1.2 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) in assets -- pay the Spanish energy group 600 million euros for 49 percent of a portfolio comprising seven solar plant projects and five onshore wind projects.

It is capable of generating 1,265 megawatts, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 700,000 Spanish households, the fund said in a statement.

The deal, which requires approval by Spanish authorities, is expected to be completed in the first three months of the year.

Nine of the 12 projects concerned are currently under development and are expected to be finished by 2025, it added.

In April 2021, the fund announced it would buy for 1.38 billion euros a 50-percent stake in what was then the world's second-largest offshore wind farm, the Borssele 1 & 2, located in the North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands.

The sovereign wealth fund invests in the Norwegian state's oil and gas revenue in shares, bonds and real estate in order to finance the future needs of the country's generous welfare state.

The fund has said it plans to invest around 10 billion euros into renewable energy infrastructure between 2020 and 2022.

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IBERDROLA