Norwegian energy and aluminium group Norsk Hydro will create a new fund worth 400 million crowns ($58.82 million) to invest in innovative technology in the energy sector, Hydro said.

Hydro Technology Ventures Fund II is Norsk Hydro's second such fund and follows 350-million-crown fund established in 2001 which has already made nine investments.
"The fund will invest in innovative technology within upstream oil and gas activities, as well as in renewable energy," Norsk Hydro said in a statement.
"The aim is to invest in three to four promising companies annually, for the next four years."
The upstream business covers production of oil and gas.
In oil and gas, the fund will put priority on technologies that boost discovery rates, reduce drilling or operating costs, raise efficiency or enable operations in environmentally vulnerable areas such as in the Arctic, Hydro said.
"Within new, renewable energy, the fund will seek out technologies that further prove the viability of wind, hydrogen, biomass and solar power as competitive areas technologically," Norsk Hydro said.
In addition to the 750 million crowns invested in the two energy venture funds, Norsk Hydro spends about 500 million crowns annually on oil- and energy-related research, it said.