Lågendalen, Larvik | It makes its own electricity: – Now this is very profitable

During 2022, several rooftops with solar panels appeared in Larvik and Lågendalen. Greenstat Energy Installation took off on a fast track when it established itself in Larvik in February.

– Our turnover was about 25 million NOK in the period from February to September, and we specifically target agriculture and industry. Very large ceilings. In Lågendalen alone we have installed between 30 and 40 systems, says Sebastian Varmin, general manager.

Røsholt Maskin AS in Steinsholt, headed by General Manager Nils Jakob Røsholt, purchased solar panels from Greenstat in April.

– We received an offer last year, when electricity started to get very expensive. With your electricity bills as high as they are now, your repayment period will increase faster. Our experience is that the solar panels work very well. When I ordered, I didn’t know that electricity would be so expensive. Now that’s very profitable, says Rocholt.

The surface stores electricity

Røsholt Maskin paid about NOK 800,000 for the 216 panels, which are now located on either side of a large barn roof. The panels are expected to produce 70,000 kilowatts within a year.

For comparison, figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) show that a Norwegian household uses an average of 16,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year.

Røsholt explains that accounting rules, such as depreciation and VAT refunds, mean the company pays less than private individuals.

– It pays off for us as a company and as farmers. We’ve been making money since we installed. For people, I don’t know if the install is helpful or not, he says.

Via mobile, Røsholt has an overview of the amount of solar energy being produced on the roof at all times. The current is created only in sunlight and daylight, so nothing happens at night.

– In July, we produced 6000 kW, and used only 1000 ourselves. Then we sold the spare capacity for NOK 15,000 and bought it for NOK 3,000, because we don’t produce ourselves at night, he says.

Industry veteran

Greenstat Energy Installation in Larvik is a subsidiary of Greenstat ASA, an energy and technology company headquartered in Bergen. They focus particularly on energy from hydrogen, the sun, and wind.

When 30-year-old Sebastian Farmin and chief financial officer Svenong Isaacsen went into business in February of this year, they were just the two of them. There are now five employees, but this will increase.

We are part of a large group dealing with renewable energy. Our department at Larvik focuses specifically on solar energy. We have two parts. One is to install solar panels, and the other is to create our own solar gardens, where we will produce and sell electricity, says Farman.

So far, no solar parks have been set up, but if all goes according to plan, one will be built at Hvarnes in Lågendalen within the next year. According to Farmen, there are also concrete plans for a park in Lilesand.

The farm says it has seen an amazing development in just a few years.

Even though I am young, I am an industry veteran. Now I’ve been working with solar cells since 2018, and now everyone should have them. In the past, ie in 2018, people were tired of hearing me talk about solar cells, but now I’m tired of hearing others talk about them, laughing.

Then came the crisis

Many people in Norway are surprised by the energy crisis and the fact that electricity has become very expensive. Sebastian Farmin is not among them. A qualified electrical engineer with a master’s degree in renewable energy, he has seen the approach of the crisis for several years.

– Already in 2016, when I studied hydroelectricity at the University of Agder, we saw that we would lack energy. The demand for electricity in Norway has been increasing by one percent per year, and we are eating steadily in the reserve, he says.

He talks about a market and a society that has undergone a great change.

– We do not have enough energy in Norway for everyone to drive an electric car, to convert agriculture to electric, and we only have electric heating for homes. We’re well used to cheap electricity, he says.

There have been complete application books in Greenstat since its inception.

What we see now is the effect of expensive energy. Now the common man will produce his own electricity through his own solar cell system, says Sebastian Farmin.