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On Wednesday, it was announced that Hydro and Lyse will merge parts of their hydroelectric production. The new company will be the third largest in Norway and will be called Lyse Kraft.
– Access to energy, and now more renewable energy, is perhaps the most important component for the aluminum business. When we invest in large plants, we have a 50-year perspective, says CEO Hilde Aasheim at Hydro to NRK.
– We solved the recurrence problem and ensured renewable production. The uncertainty after 2022 has been removed, he says.
Hydro: – Greetings to the government
The deal means that Røldal Suldal Kraft (RSK) plants will not return to state in 2022, and that power from the new Lyse Kraft DA can still be used for Hydro’s aluminum production in Norway.
– This means that we can maintain our own power as we had it in Røldal Suldal Kraft when we have operated it until now. Now we are putting it in a larger power company where we own 25 percent, but where we can still get the value of the company’s own power, Aasheim tells NRK.
A DA company is a responsible company with multiple owners, where the owners can take power as dividends, rather than financial dividends.
Oil and Energy Minister Tina Bru congratulated the parties when the agreement was concluded on Wednesday.
Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / NRK
– Exactly in this case, there is one thing that has been important and that is the change that came in 2016 called the DA model, which has facilitated the property model that was presented here today. And it secures hydropower in Karmøy, but also develops Lyse to become a larger group than it is today, Oil and Energy Minister Tina Bru tells NRK.
Will create more jobs
By establishing the company together with Lyse and keeping the ownership stake below a third, Hydro, partly state-owned, prevents power at RSK’s plant from returning to the state in 2022.
– That is why we have been so concerned that we are allowed to preserve this autonomy. So it’s a tribute to the government that gave us that opportunity, says Aasheim.
CEO Eimund Nygaard at Lyse tells NRK that the deal was finalized once last night.
34 Lyse employees get a new employer when Hydro becomes operator of the plant:
– And then we have to strengthen the part of Lyse that deals with water disposal and market operations, so there will be some new jobs, Nygaard tells NRK.
The power plants being merged are located in southwestern Norway, and Hydro’s RSK is included along with most of Lyse’s power portfolio, Norsk Hydro writes in a stock exchange statement.
The Minister of Petroleum congratulates
– We see great opportunities in building a more robust hydroelectric company when we merge Lyse’s plants in Rogaland and the Agder and Røldal-Suldal power plants, which Hydro owns, says Nygaard.
The Minister of Oil and Energy Tina Bru is present to attend the session and eat cake with the parties.
– What has happened here today is an example that hydroelectric power continues to bless us and we will help to build the industry also in the future, says Bru.
– Congratulations for the day to all, says the minister.
Hydro will own 25.6 percent and Lyse will own 74.4 percent of the company’s shares. The deal is expected to generate savings with a current value of up to NOK 500 million at Lyse.
– This will guarantee energy for the energy-intensive industry forever, Nygaard says.
