Magnora ASA

Regulatory Filings • Oct 7, 2020

Vindr Group’s flying start

Vindr Group’s flying start

Oslo, Norway, 7 October 2020: Magnora’s investment Vindr Group, which is a developer of small and medium sized onshore wind projects in areas with already cultivated land, is experiencing high demand for its novel business model.

In Sweden dialogues with municipalities, industries and landowners have proven that Vindr’s concept is well received. This has resulted in a very early phase pipeline of more than 300 MW of viable wind power projects. Another approx. 1.200 MW of potential projects in our focus area meet Vindr Group’s defined project criteria.

In March this year, Magnora acquired a 25 percent stake in the then recently started Vindr Group, with an option to acquire an additional 25 percent of the company. Magnora is an Oslo-listed renewable energy investment company.

Site identification methodology

Since being founded by three wind industry experts in late 2019, Vindr Group has successfully brought the company into full operation. Emphasis has been put on building a business around best-in-class methodology and tools enabling effective site identification.

“Vindr Group has the capability to assess wind resources with the help of high-resolution wind models enabling early phase prioritization of locations,” says Camilla Andersson, co-founder of Vindr Group.

In Sweden particularly, the challenge of transforming a nuclear-heavy power system will provide new opportunities for industries and small power producers to participate in the market. “Understanding and locating weak grid capabilities and future bottlenecks is important to our business model”, says Camilla Andersson.

Greenfield projects

Today, Vindr Group is developing greenfield projects in cooperation with local industries enabling development and growth. Securing availability of cheap and green electricity will be key to protecting local employment and development. Early engagement with local stakeholders speeds up development of viable projects that go hand-in-hand with local interests.

Electrification and demand growth of sectors such as hydrogen, concrete, fertilizers, steel, data centres and battery production is thus a driving force for the project portfolio.

“Particularly interesting is green hydrogen production which has a potential to become a substantial market,” adds Andersson.

New Sweden office

Following the flying start, Vindr Group has established a new office in Lund, Sweden.

To head up the office in Lund, the company has hired Martin de Maré, a senior specialist within wind- and load analysis. He has worked several years for Vestas and Ørsted and served as a senior scientist at RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden).

Export potential

An obvious next step for Vindr Group is to identify new geographical regions where its business model can quickly and cost-efficiently be implemented.

“We are very impressed with Vindr Group’s progress. They have proven that any municipality, landowner or developer that considers wind as energy resource in a forested region, area with varied topography or other non-developed areas will benefit hugely from Vindr’s early-phase site identification technology and tools,” says Haakon Alfstad, investment director at Magnora and chairman of Vindr Group.

For further information, please contact:

Torstein Sanness, working chairman, sanness@sf-nett.no

Erik Sneve, CEO, Magnora ASA, es@magnoraasa.com

About Magnora

Magnora ASA (OSE: MGN) is a renewable energy investment company looking for profitable green investment opportunities. The company is listed on the main list on Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker MGN.