Agreement signed to acquire 49.9% stake in Norsk Hydro’s renewables business

Macquarie Asset Management has signed an agreement with industrial company Hydro to acquire 49.9% of Hydro’s renewable energy company Hydro Rein.

Under this agreement, Hydro and Macquarie Asset Management are set to establish a joint venture (JV). In this arrangement, Hydro will maintain majority ownership with 50.1%, while Macquarie Asset Management plans to invest USD 332 million to acquire a 49.9% stake in Hydro Rein. With this injection of capital, Hydro Rein is anticipated to be fully funded for its ongoing projects and the development costs of upcoming ventures in the pipeline over the next few years.

Currently, the two companies are collaborative partners in a large-scale onshore wind farm project underway in northeastern Brazil. Through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), this initiative will provide electricity to Hydro's bauxite mine, Paragominas, and its alumina refinery, Alunorte. Since its launch in 2021, Hydro Rein has curated a substantial portfolio of renewable energy projects. The existing 6.9 GW portfolio pipeline within the joint venture encompasses renewable energy initiatives spanning from projects under construction to those in the early stages of development in the Nordics and Brazil. Hydro Rein's captive share in the four projects currently under construction is projected to be 1.7 TWh.