Record investment drives Iberdrola’s strong H1 results

Spanish energy firm Iberdrola has reported record investments of €4.9 billion in the first half of 2021, 37% more than in the same period last year, nearly half of which (45%) was allocated to renewables activities. 

In February, Iberdrola announced plans to invest €150 billion in renewables by 2030, following a pledge last November to deliver 30GW of wind capacity by 2025.

The company’s expansion strategy meant it was active in Europe, America and Asia Pacific, with the US (27.1%) and Spain (25.4%) attracting more than half of total investments.

“These results are the fruit of an unprecedented investment effort. In a period of great complexity, we have accelerated investment in grids, renewables and storage, promoting economic activity and helping to create quality jobs around the world,” said Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Galán.

Between January and June 2021, the company achieved a gross operating profit (Ebitda) of €5.44 billion — up 10.2% from last year. The increase would have been 15% were it not for the impact of Covid-19 and currency exchange, it said.

Renewables saw Ebitda rise by 63% to €2 billion, driven by an increase in production, installed capacity and load factors. 

Installed onshore wind capacity rose 11% to 18.8GW, with production increasing by 7.2%. Offshore, capacity remained stable at 1.3GW, while production increased 17.4% to more than 2.2TWh.

Adjusted net profit was €1.84 billion, an increase of 8.4% on the previous year.

Depreciation and amortisation charges and provisions decreased by 9.9% to €165.7 million, due to the extension from 25 to 30 years of the useful life of wind turbines smaller than 1MW and solar PV installations, leading to an Ebit of €824.4 million (+605.7%).

In the US, gross margin rose by 12.8% to €535 million, mainly due to the effect of the storm in Texas, where Iberdrola’s wind farms did not suffer outages and enjoyed higher than usual production. 

Expansion activities in the first half of 2021 include the acquisition in February of a majority stake in DP Energy’s offshore wind projects off Ireland, and a strategic alliance with Spanish insurer Mapfre to develop renewables in Spain.

Outside of Europe, Iberdrola signed a pact with GS Energy to build renewables projects in South Korea and other Asian markets in June.

The company has been increasing its activities in the offshore wind sector, including a partnership with two Japanese firms announced in March. Earlier this month, Iberdrola announced a €400 million deal with Navantia and Windar to bring an offshore monopile foundations facility to Spain’s Galicia region.  

Globally, Iberdrola has a wind energy pipeline of 25.2GW offshore and 15.5GW onshore. 

It said it intends to target offshore wind in growing markets such as Japan, Poland, Sweden, Ireland, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Brazil and the US, as well as traditional European markets, including Spain, Portugal, the UK, Germany, France and Italy.

In a separate development, Iberdrola announced today the acquisition of Sowitec Vietnam, a developer with a pipeline of five onshore wind farms under development that are expected online by 2024.