Madrid-headquartered EDP Renovaveis (EDPR) said today (Wednesday) its net profit shrank 50% to €309m ($334m) in 2023, due to the impact of lower energy prices on falling revenues
EDPR, which is controlled by Portugal's EDP group, said its power generation increased 4% in 2023, averaging 34.6TWh, and the company added 2.5GW more renewables capacity.
But annual revenues of €2.24bn were still 6% lower than the previous year reflecting lower prices in Europe, compared to 2022’s extraordinary levels.
The selling price for EDPR's electricity fell 6% from the previous year earlier to average €61MWh in 2023, the company stated.
EDPR, which is ranked as one of the top five wind power producers in the world, also reported that output from its US wind portfolio was negatively impacted by El Nino weather patterns.
The company booked €460m from divestments on three wind farm assets in Spain, Poland and Brazil, totalling 700MW of capacity, with €1.7bn proceeds including €460m gains, but financial returns were offset by the overall decline in revenues.
Acquisitions in the year included a 49% minority interest in 1GW-capacity of operating onshore wind farm assets in Europe for €570bn.
The 1.7GW of new renewables capacity that was added in the final quarter of a 2023 alone was described as a record, and the company said it expects to install another 4GW in 2024.
Its installed capacity reached 16.6GW at the end of 2023, breaking down into 1GW of onshore wind and 1.5GW of solar.
In solar energy, EDPR highlighted its progress in diversifying its supply chains for Europe and the US, with nine different suppliers.
Wind issues
In offshore wind, through the Ocean Winds joint venture, EDPR described 2GW of projects under construction in France and UK, along with 1.7GW under advanced development in Poland and the US.
The main impairment reported was a €178m hit in Colombia for wind project delays, although €10m for the cancellation of the PPA for the SouthCoast offshore wind farm in the US was also mentioned.
The delays on Colombia's 500MW Alpha & Beta wind farm was described as relating to consultations with indigenous communities and renegotiation and arbitraiton issues affecting the 15-year PPAs in question.
In an earnings call with analysts, EDPR CEO Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade said environmental permits are expected to be in place for the Colombian project around October, and he added the Vestas turbines that will be used on the Colombian wind farm are already in the country.
On SouthCoast, the company said it is analyzing a potential bid into first multi-state PPA auction in the US, which was delayed to 27 March.
On Poland's Baltic Sea BC-Wind project, EDPR said it had won approval for the connection of an 101MW of capacity for a total of 500MW.
Capacity additions in 2023 were evenly split between onshore wind and solar photovoltaic, with Europe and North America representing 76% of the total.
EDPR's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) were reported as €1.83bn in 2023, down 15% from the previous year.
"We know that 2023 was challenging. We will continue to face some challenges in 2024, but we are working through these issues, and we have a very clear view of the headwinds and how to solve them," said Stilwell d'Andrade.
"We are working very hard to deliver the 4GW (pipeline). We will keep our eye on the ball, and focus on medium and long term goals. We are not expecting too much from the first quarter, but we are expecting some recovery over course of the year."
