Solar Energy Company from Stavanger participates in the Vietnam initiative – E24

The investment also establishes a partnership between Norfund, Norsk Solar and the investment fund Finnfund, of which the Finnish state is majority owned. Finnfund and Norsk Solar have previously set up an investment company, Nordic Impact Cooperation (NIC), which aims to finance solar energy projects and deliver renewable energy to companies and industrial companies in so-called emerging markets. NIC and Norfund are now investing together in a solar power project in Vietnam.

You should grow more

We are proud to have Norvand on the team as an investor in a newly built solar power project in Vietnam. Two Nordic investors, such as Norvind and Venvend, would like to join the ownership side of our projects, confirming our business model and enhancing our ability to expand further in Southeast Asia and globally, says Norsk Solar CEO Oyvind L. Vesterdal, to Afterlife / E24.

The project in Vietnam consists of eleven photovoltaic systems built on the rooftop of some of the largest shopping malls in Vietnam. The entire project has a size of 11 megawatts.

Norfund has closely followed the positive development of Norsk Solar, and we are pleased to see another Norwegian renewable energy developer succeed in establishing itself in emerging markets. Cooperation with such an important company as Central Retail in Vietnam is a confirmation of what it has achieved. We are pleased to be able to collaborate with Norsk Solar and provide the capital and expertise that contributes to increasing access to clean and affordable energy, enabling job creation and avoiding CO2 emissions, says Inge Stølen, Senior Investment Manager at Norfund.

invested 75 million

Thus, Norfond is the government investment fund for business activities in developing countries. The company was established by the Norwegian Parliament in 1997, as an instrument of Norway’s development policy towards poor developing countries. The purpose is to create jobs and improve living conditions by investing in companies that promote sustainable development.

Neither party wants to quantify Norvand’s investment in the project in Vietnam, but the total investment in Norsk Solar so far is around NOK 75 million and Norvind will own 35 percent of the plant. Norsk Solar and Vinfinde own the remaining 65 percent.

Vietnam has one of the world’s fastest growing energy markets, and the country doubled its consumption between 2010 and 2019. It has become the third largest solar energy market in the world, but more than half of the country’s energy comes from severe, climate-damaging coal power.

Our solar project will produce more than 300,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy and will avoid 198,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in Vietnam over the next 25 years, says Øyvind L. Vesterdal.

Helvig’s biggest owner

Norsk Solar was founded in 2017 in Stavanger and today has more than 30 employees representing 15 nationalities. The company is present in Norway, Pakistan, Ukraine, South Africa, Vietnam and Brazil. Norsk Solar is also listed in Euronext Growth Oslo.

By far the largest owner in Norsk Solar is wind energy king Lars Helge Helveg, owning 47.52 percent through Valinor.

– In the field of energy, we work with both wind and solar energy on land and at sea, and with solar energy. Norsk Solar builds solar parks in many countries, in Nicaragua, Ukraine, South Africa, Vietnam, Pakistan and the Maldives.

– I was recently in South Africa where Valinor Africa is working on a very large solar and wind power project. About 10 billion NOK can be invested. We are waiting for the public approvals, and I have great confidence that they will come through,” Helvig said in an interview with Aftenbladet/E24 in December last year.