The Norwegian state acquired its first ownership rights to a waterfall when they bought Paulenfossen in Southern Norway in 1895.

[1] In 1921, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) was created to operate the nation's power plants.

Statkraft expanded internationally over the beginning of the 21st century, opening plants in Nepal (1993), Peru (2003), Chile (2004), India (2004), UK (2006), Albania (2007), Germany (office 1999, power generating from 2007), Brazil (2008), Netherlands (office from 1998, power generation from 2018), Spain (2018) and Ireland (2018).

In December 2023, Statkraft acquired a 450 MW 'water battery' project next to Loch Ness in Scotland to store renewable energy.

It consists of two hydropower plants, Banja and Moglicë in the Devoll valley, with an installed capacity of roughly 256 MW.

[7] Production takes place in more than 300 hydropower plants in Norway, Sweden, Germany, UK, Turkey, as well as several countries in South America and Asia.

In November 2020, Statkraft announced it had acquired Solarcentury for NOK 1.45 billion, taking full control of the company and its solar production facilities in Europe and South America.