Aker Offshore Wind Operating Company AS ("Aker Offshore Wind") and its majority
owner Aker Horizons AS ("Aker Horizons") have entered into a cooperation
agreement with Statkraft AS ("Statkraft") to explore possibilities for
collaboration on offshore wind power projects on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
("NCS"). 

Aker Horizons, Aker Offshore Wind and Statkraft (the "Parties") will work
together and utilize their complementary skills and expertise to explore the
possibility to develop and operate large-scale offshore wind parks in Norway. By
harnessing excellent offshore wind resources in the North Sea, the Parties aim
to export green electricity to European customers. The agreement reinforces Aker
Offshore Wind's ongoing efforts in being a driving force for the
industrialization of offshore wind in Norway and internationally and solidifies
Aker Horizons' role as a leading planet-positive investment company. 

"With Statkraft and Aker coming together, two of the driving forces in Norway's
industrial development are ready to explore new opportunities in offshore wind.
The building blocks and capabilities to be at the forefront of the energy
transition are in place. We look forward to working with Statkraft to develop
the offshore wind industry further, reducing emissions and creating new jobs for
the future," says Astrid Skarheim Onsum, Chief Executive Officer of Aker
Offshore Wind. 

"By entering a cooperation with Aker Horizons and its subsidiary, Aker Offshore
Wind, we are exploring a value-creative opportunity in Norway. We have expertise
in the development and operations of wind power and have previously been engaged
in offshore wind in the UK. Strong growth, falling technology costs and a
changed competitor landscape indicates that offshore wind will take a larger
role in the European energy transition; therefore, we see the cooperation with
Aker Offshore Wind as an opportunity for substantial value creation and
accelerate Europe's green transition," says Statkraft Chief Executive Officer,
Christian Rynning-Tønnesen.

The partnership will explore the opportunity for bottom-fixed offshore wind at
Sørlige Nordsjø II ("SN2"), for which the Parties will establish an integrated
project team, equally split between Aker Offshore Wind and Statkraft, for joint
preparation and submission of an acreage application and further development
activities. Aker Offshore Wind, being a pure play offshore wind developer with
an ambition to become a full-fledged independent power producer (IPP), will play
a leading role in the construction phase. As the largest provider of green
electricity in Europe, Statkraft will lead the operations phase and the
marketing of the green electricity. Aker Horizons, Aker's investment platform
dedicated to investing in, incubating, and developing companies within renewable
energy and decarbonization technologies, will play an active role in the overall
management of the cooperation, adding value with its expertise within financial
structuring, strategy project execution and deploying digital solutions.
Together, the Parties are evaluating export possibilities to Europe and the UK
and electrification of oil and gas assets for possible value adding offtake.  

"The cooperation agreement comes at a time when we see large global ambitions
for offshore wind development and a window of opportunity to put Norway at the
forefront of a growing global industry. For SN2, we have already identified and
will leverage key differentiators, including Statkraft's renewable energy track
record and the Aker ecosystem's deep domain expertise. Capabilities and
experience across the Aker Horizons portfolio, which we significantly
strengthened with the recent addition of Mainstream Renewable Power, will be
mobilized to support Aker Offshore Wind in the development and implementation of
the project. We look forward to working together with Statkraft towards our
common goal of using one of the fastest growing energy sources in the world to
reach a carbon free future," says Kristian Røkke, Chief Executive Officer at
Aker Horizons.      


For further information, please contact: Ivar Simensen, Communications and IR,
+47 46402317, ivar.simensen@akerhorizons.com

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