Alotta, which has developed floating solar solutions, has raised NOK 63.5m and announced a power purchase agreement with Chilean salmon farmer Mowi Chile.
Norwegian renewable energy company Alotta has raised NOK 63.5m (€5.4m) in a funding round led by impact investment platform Wilstar Innovate.
Alotta, which is based in Ålesund, a port town on the west coast of Norway, was launched in 2020 with a mission to cut greenhouse gas emissions by replacing diesel energy used in remote locations with renewable sources. The company’s focus is the largely diesel-powered aquaculture industry, for which it has designed, developed and operates floating solar arrays.
Speaking to Impact Investor, Kari-Elin Hildre, Alotta’s CEO, said the investment will be used to scale its operations.
“The aim is to finance the long-term energy sales agreements we have with clients to buy and operate our equipment and expand our operations in Chile. We are also looking at other countries with salmon farming such as New Zealand, Australia and Canada,” she said.
Other investors include impact fund manager Norselab, family-owned industrial investment company Umoe, and private investment firm Bondø Invest. Pir Invest, a company representing a group of founders investing in early-stage companies in the Sunnmøre region – where Alotta is based – also invested alongside a number of smaller unnamed private investors. Individual investment amounts were not disclosed.
Hildre said that with the exception of Wilstar Innovate, all the investors have funded previous rounds.
“Pir Invest invested into our company at inception, along with a group of local investors, and Norselab and Umoe came in in January 2024, bringing their capital, knowledge and network, which has allowed us to develop our energy-as-a-service proposition, delivering ‘green’ kWh to our customers,” she said.
Focus on aquaculture
Alotta recently signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Mowi Chile, the world’s largest salmon farmer, which produces around 20% of global farmed Atlantic salmon, exporting it to more than 70 countries globally. The agreement covers renewable power delivery to Mowi Chile’s salmon farming site at Huar Norte, located in the Los Lagos region in the south of the country.
“Around the world, around 750 million people are totally dependent on diesel for their daily operations, this includes hospitals, schools, and entire communities. The reason we started in aquaculture is because it’s an industry heavily dominated by diesel power,” said Hildre, explaining that the company first piloted its solutions in Norway.
“Even in Norway, where there is easier access to renewable sources of energy it remains quite expensive and there is still a lot of dependency on diesel,” she added.
The company’s Norwegian customers include Ode, a seafood organisation specialised in cod farming, and Hofseth, which operates across the trout and salmon value chains.
“Hofseth have been with us since the beginning, allowing us to use their facilities to pilot our solutions, which has been a huge advantage as it has allowed us to demonstrate real-life results,” said Hildre, adding that in the future the company envisages expanding its solutions to other use cases, including to service remote islands, underserved coastal communities, and even installing its solar platforms on top of reservoirs connected to hydroelectric dams to increase their energy generating potential.
Dual revenue model
Alotta has a dual revenue model, combining technology delivery through Alotta AS, the parent company, and recurring “green” kWh revenues through its subsidiary Alotta Energy.
Clients can choose to either buy the technology and operate it themselves, or buy the energy directly from Alotta which retains ownership and operational capacity of its floating solar arrays.
“What we’ve found is that customers prefer a solution that doesn’t require a large capex investment and instead buy energy from us as they would as individual consumers,” said Hildre.
To help establish its presence in Chile, Alotta launched Alotta Energy Chile, a local subsidiary through which it sells the energy generated by its solar platforms directly to its Chilean customers.
Ahead of the deal with Mowi Chile, the company partnered with AKVA Group, a global supplier of technology and services to the aquaculture industry.
“AKVA is the world’s largest supplier to aquaculture. They provide all the equipment a fish farm needs but were missing a green energy supplier to power their equipment. That’s where we came in,” said Hildre, explaining that whilst Alotta retains ownership of its solar energy technology, AKVA has exclusive rights to use it across Chile.
“AKVA Group has more than 300 people in Chile. They are helping us with installation, service and maintenance. Now, that we’ve signed the first agreement with Mowi Chile, the market opportunity is huge,” she said.
According to Alotta, Chile has over 600 active farming sites across the regions of Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes. Nearly all are off-grid and dependent on diesel generators, consuming more than 60 million litres of diesel annually and emitting over 160,000 tonnes of CO₂.
In addition to reducing air pollution, Hildre said the impact on people’s lives from the reduction in noise pollution, by eliminating noisy diesel engines, should also not be underestimated.
