Good Q1 offshore winds boost RWE’s nine-month results

RWE has reported significantly higher adjusted EBITDA at its offshore wind business segment for the first three quarters of 2020, which stood at EUR 738 million, up from EUR 660 million the same period last year.

The company attributed the 12 per cent increase primarily to better wind conditions in the first quarter of this year.

For its offshore wind segment, RWE expects adjusted EBITDA of between EUR 900 million and EUR 1,100 million for the entire 2020 fiscal year.

The figures for the first three quarters of 2019, with which the latest ones are being compared, are pro forma due to new reporting structure and E.ON assets included for the entire 2019 fiscal year, according to the company’s latest financial documents.

RWE’s core business – which includes offshore and onshore wind, solar, hydro, biomass, gas and supply & trading – achieved adjusted EBITDA of EUR 1.8 billion in the first three quarters of 2020, an increase of 4 per cent compared with the pro forma result for the same 2019 period.

For the entire year, the company expects an adjusted EBITDA of between EUR 2.15 billion and EUR 2.45 billion for its core business.

When it comes to capital expenditure during the first three quarters, RWE reported that its capex eligible for green investments according to the proposed EU taxonomy amounted to 85 per cent.

Namely, the company’s capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment from January until the end of September amounted to EUR 1.6 billion, of which EUR 1.3 billion went into the construction of new renewable energy infrastructure and battery storage, including the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm in the UK and Kaskasi in Germany.

The Final Investment Decision (FID) for the 342 MW Kaskasi offshore wind farm, located some 35 kilometres north of the island of Heligoland, was reached in April, while offshore construction at the Triton Knoll project site started in January.