EnBW has reported a 10.3% decrease in the operating result of its renewables division in the 2018 financial year, said to be partly due to poor wind conditions which had a negative impact on the output of offshore wind farms.
EnBW also attributes the EBITDA drop to low water levels which negatively influenced the output from run-of-river power plants, saying taht the increase in earnings from onshore wind was not sufficient to make up for the loss.
According to the company, these negative impacts were offset by good performance in other parts of the business, mostly in the grids business, and by additional efficiency gains.
The German offshore wind developer generated revenue of circa EUR 20.62 billion, marking a 6.2% decrease on the previous year when EUR 21.97 billion was reported.
Total operating result was EUR 2.16 billion, up by 2.1%, said to be within the 0-5% guidance range for the year.
EnBW said its total investment was at EUR 1.77 billion, while 74.8% of total gross investment related to growth projects, primarily in the renewables and grid expansion areas.
“This means our ambitious plan has delivered – in an equally ambitious year. Our decision to completely restructure the business while keeping the company in one piece is increasingly paying off,” said CEO Frank Mastiaux . “It also means that we continue to power ahead on the home straight in our EnBW 2020 Strategy.”
In the years ahead, EnBW plans to increasingly focus on infrastructure, both in the energy sector and beyond, and to take on 3,600 new employees by the end of 2021.
The company plans a total investment of EUR 6.4 billion for the 2019-2021 period, from which around 28% will be attributable to renewables of which 27% will be for growth investment, including funds for the realization of the Hohe See and Albatros offshore wind projects.
“We are focusing – in fact, we are concentrating on what we are really good at, which is building and managing complex, large-scale and critical infrastructure, safely and reliably. Not just in the energy business, but also in other areas. And secondly, we want to grow. Specifically, we aim for an operating result of more than three billion euros in 2025. That would be more than this company has ever attained,” said Mastiaux.