Boss of Norway’s fund giant to steer US$10.7bn green energy splurge from London

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Named NBIM's CEO in 2008, Yngve Slyngstad will step down and move to London to oversee the fund's new green energy push. Image credit: Norges Bank / Flickr

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund will tap its outgoing boss to lead a new campaign to invest billions of dollars in green energy in the space of a few years.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) is to use its trillion-plus-dollar pot of oil wealth money to inject 100 billion Norwegian crowns (US$10.7 billion) into unlisted renewable projects by 2022, CEO Yngve Slyngstad said at a press conference on Tuesday.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Contacted by PV Tech today, a NBIM spokesperson confirmed recent reports that it will be Slyngstad himself – CEO since 2008 but set to step down this year – who steers the green energy push, relocating from Oslo to London to coordinate efforts.

Known under the GPFG moniker, the NBIM’s oil wealth fund holds assets of 10 trillion Norwegian crowns (US$1.09 trillion). Initially, the fund was legally barred from backing unlisted renewables but Norway’s government lifted the ban last autumn, in line with plans first unveiled last April.

Approached this week, the NBIM spokesperson explained the fund has yet to make its first investment in a non-listed renewable asset. According to them, further details on the locations and sizes of the solar and wind projects the fund will target will be revealed “at a later point”.

As PV Tech noted last April, however, exposure to unlisted renewables will initially be limited to developed markets and capped at 2% of the fund’s assets. This week, in statements echoed by ReutersSlyngstad said the fund will first look at Europe and North America. 

Backer of solar makers goes downstream as PV costs plummet

The arrival of one of the world’s most deep-pocketed funds to unlisted solar comes as the industry becomes a popular target for private players. From BlackRock to Google, financial and corporate giants are being drawn by plummeting PV costs, helping firms deploy on a subsidy-free basis.

Government speeches from last year indicate economics, not ethics, remain the key driver behind GPFG’s opening to unlisted renewables. Last April, then-Finance minister Siv Jensen said: “[It] is not a climate policy measure, but is a part of the investment strategy for the fund.” 

The fund – whose self-styled mission is to safeguard Norway’s wealth for when the “oil runs out” – counts with expert advice on how to make a financial success of its green energy campaign. Published in late 2018, a report from McKinsey & Company laid out the scale of the opportunity.

Commissioned by Norway’s Finance Ministry, the analysis claimed unlisted projects will represent 70% of the investable renewable market between 2018 and 2030, most of it solar and in Asia. PV and wind, McKinsey said, can be reputationally and environmentally safer than other renewables.

The report did have some caveats for solar, however. The document flagged environmental risks – including the decommissioning of panels containing toxic cadmium – as well as regulatory challenges, noting that the industry is like wind “particularly exposed” to policy U-turns.

GPFG’s aperture to downstream solar follows its efforts over the years to build stakes in PV manufacturers. A glance at the fund’s current portfolio shows it owns stakes in SolarEdge Technologies (3.45%), Canadian Solar (2%), JinkoSolar (2%), First Solar (1.6%) and others.

See here for more information on GPFG's current solar portfolio

2 December 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.
10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

October 7, 2025
Econergy will acquire 100% stake in the 155MW Ratesti solar project in Romania, further expanding its European renewable energy portfolio.
October 7, 2025
Solar PV will account for almost 80% of the 4.6TW of new renewable power expected to be added by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
October 6, 2025
German solar inverter manufacturer SMA Solar will cut 350 jobs in 2026 as it adapts to the “weak” residential PV market.
October 6, 2025
An expert panel has identified a series of grid failures that led to April's unprecedented power outage in Spain and Portugal, ruling out renewables as the leading cause.
October 2, 2025
Spanish waste management company Trabede and energy firm Greening Group will build a solar module recycling plant in Granada, Andalusia, Spain.
October 2, 2025
The European solar sector will lose around 5% of its jobs in 2025, the first contraction in employment for the sector in nearly a decade.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK