Aker Clean Hydrogen and Varanger Kraft's project to build a green hydrogen and
ammonia plant in Berlevåg in Northern Norway is accelerating towards its
objective to decarbonize arctic shipping and off-grid power plants.
 
The green ammonia will be produced from water and renewable power from the
Raggovidda wind park and replace traditional fossil fuels for ships, rigs and
offgrid power stations, removing about 200,000 tons CO2 per year.

The project has now successfully passed the feasibility study and concept phase.
The project design is based on a 100 MW hydrogen plant, but pre-facilitation of
a potential future expansion to 200 MW, is being considered. The plan is to
start producing green ammonia by the end of 2024. 

"Our findings confirm that the Green Ammonia Berlevåg project is well placed to
realize green ammonia production at scale to decarbonize arctic shipping and off
grid power plants. The project continues to move forward towards becoming one of
the first production plants of green ammonia," says Knut Nyborg, Chief Executive
Officer of Aker Clean Hydrogen.

The planned plant will be located north of the Arctic Circle in Berlevåg
municipality with renewable power supply from Varanger Kraft's wind farm on
Raggovidda close by. Norwegian authorities recently extended the licence
deadline for Varanger Kraft to expand the wind power production capacity on
Raggovidda wind farm until 2026. 

"This is great news for us and our partners. The extended license deadline gives
Varanger Kraft the opportunity to expand the capacity of Raggovidda to 200 MW
with an additional 103 MW of wind power which in turn will result in higher
supply of renewable power to the planned production plant in Berlevåg," said
Christian Bue, CEO of Green Ammonia Berlevåg AS, the recently formed joint
venture between Aker Clean Hydrogen and Varanger Kraft.
 
A 2.5 MW hydrogen pilot facility is already in operation with power from the
wind farm. 

"We have just produced the first kilogramme of clean hydrogen in Berlevåg, and
we already see promising synergies," adds Bue, who is also the CEO of Varanger
Kraft Hydrogen AS. 

Rolf Laupstad, mayor of Berlevåg, sees great potential for positive local ripple
effects from realizing the Green Ammonia Berlevåg project. "This project is
crucial for us to reach our ambition of making Berlevåg an Arctic power centre
of green development. We are committed to doing everything we can politically
and administratively to help this project succeed," says Laupstad.

Liv Monica Stubholt has been appointed Chairman of Green Ammonia Berlevåg AS.
She has previously held several executive positions within Aker, is a former
chairman of Varanger Kraft, and has been State Secretary in the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. 

Stubholt underlines the maturity of the project: "This is a well-advanced
project with a real head start, positioning the company to capture opportunities
in a fast-moving market. When developing the emerging hydrogen and ammonia
industry, the geography of Berlevåg in the Arctic proves central rather than
peripheral. I am confident that this project will contribute to the development
of a full value chain hydrogen industry in Norway, including driving growth in
the region," she adds. 

For additional information, please contact:
Mathias Reierth, media contact, +47 988 05 724, mathias.reierth@akerhorizons.com

Ivar Simensen, media contact, +47 46402317, ivar.simensen@akerhorizons.com 
Christian Yggeseth, investor contact, +47 915 10 000,
Christian.yggeseth@akerhorizons.com

About Aker Clean Hydrogen
Aker Clean Hydrogen aims to develop, build, own and operate clean hydrogen
production on an industrial scale. Aker Horizons is the majority shareholder of
the company, and Aker Clean Hydrogen uses domain expertise across the Aker
Group, including systems integration, engineering, technology development,
project implementation, digitization and financial optimization to increase
efficiency and reduce project costs. The company aims to reach a net installed
capacity of 5 GW by 2030, and will make a major contribution to realizing the
hydrogen industry and reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally.
www.akercleanhydrogen.com

About the Varanger Kraft group
Varanger Kraft AS is owned by the municipalities of Sør-Varanger, Vadsø, Deatnu
/ Tana, Båtsfjord, Berlevåg, Vardø and Unjàrga / Nesseby. The group is organized
into seven subsidiaries that have businesses in the renewable energy industry
and digital communication. The group has 170 employees at the head office in
Vadsø and departments in Sør-Varanger, Vadsø, Båtsfjord, Berlevåg, Vardø and
Unjàrga / Nesseby.
www.varanger-kraft.no