When energy and nature work together

More than energy production

Vikersund Solar Park is not only a project for producing renewable energy. The project also shows how energy production can be combined with nature and agricultural interests on the same land.

The solar plant also functions as sheep pasture, where the animals help keep vegetation down in a natural way. This reduces the need for both pesticides and artificial fertiliser, while the land remains in active use.

An arena for research and biodiversity

Norway has long had a power surplus, but developments point toward a more strained power system in the years ahead. Demand for electric power is increasing, while new types of consumers are being connected to the grid.

Growth in data centres in particular has received a lot of attention. As of July 2025 a large number of data centre projects are registered in the grid queue or with allocated capacity at Statnett. If many of these projects are realised, it could lead to electricity consumption that is significantly higher than earlier forecasts have assumed.

The land should not be lost

This combination of energy production, research and agricultural operations has been important for local anchoring of the project. Vikersund Solar Park shows that it is possible to develop new energy production in a way that also takes nature and existing land use into account.

A central principle for the project is that the land should not be lost for the future. The plant is built so that it can be removed again without lasting interventions in the soil.

«We are borrowing the land. When the plant is one day taken down, everything is 100% reversible. The soil underneath is at least as good, if not better.»