EDP Renováveis H1 profit down 62% on ‘weak’ renewable power generation

  • Lusa
  • 26 July 2023

In this period, and more specifically in the second quarter, renewable energy generation was also affected "by y an increase in grid congestion in Spain" according to the EDPR statement.

EDP Renováveis, the renewables offshoot of Energias de Portugal, had a first-half profit of €102 million, 62% less than in the first half of 2022, according to company information published on Wednesday via Portugal’s Securities Markets Commission (CMVM).

The company, which has its headquarters in Madrid but is listed on the Lisbon Stock Exchange, explained that in the second quarter of the year renewable energy generation “was particularly weak” – penalised by the effect of the meteorological phenomenon known as El Niño, which affected EDPR’s wind farms in the US.

In this period, and more specifically in the second quarter, renewable energy generation was also affected “by y an increase in grid congestion in Spain” according to the statement.

The company said that its results also reflected the impact of changes in regulatory rules for the reference price of energy sales in Spain, “together with lower YoY [yeary-on-year] electricity market prices in Europe and electricity from recent assets in Brazil temporarily sold at spot price e (currently at minimum level) ahead of the start of PPA [power purchase agreement] contracted period.”

EDPR’s revenues in the first half were down 1% year on year to €1.225bn, “due to weak production together with a lower average selling price,” while operating costs grew by 10%, including higher taxes in Europe and higher personnel costs, due to an increase in headcount and inflation.

The results also had other negative impacts related to associated companies in the UK and US, such as falling electricity prices compared to last year’s “extraordinary” levels and project cancellations, as well as a provision in Romania related to regulatory rules in that country, among other items.

In this period, EDP Renováveis made a gross capital investment of €2.3 billion and the company’s net debt reached €5.7 billion.

EDP Renováveis is a 74.98% owned subsidiary of EDP, operating in the field of renewable energy.

In 2022, the company reported profits of €671 million, an increase of 2% over the previous year.