Vattenfall Earmarks EUR 1.5 Billion for Renewables in Next Two Years

Swedish state-owned power company Vattenfall will spend SEK 14 billion (EUR 1.5 bn) on developing its renewable energy power sources, mainly wind , throughout 2016 and 2017, aimed at helping the company reach the goal of adding further 2,300 MW of installed wind capacity by 2020. 

The DanTysk OWF. Image source: Vattenfall

The renewables will take the 93% share of Vattenfall’s growth investments in the next two years, parts of which will be financed through partnerships such as the one recently signed with the Swedish pension group AMF who bought a share in the 150 MW Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm.

Vattenfall’s wind segment generated 5.1 TWh of electricity in FY 2015, a 41.5% increase compared to 4.1 TWh generated in FY 2014. The company’s installed renewable capacity increased by a combined total of 445 MW in 2015.

Net sales at the company’s Wind Business Area increased from SEK 5.23 bn in FY 2014 to SEK 6.77 bn in FY 2015, helped in part by the commissioning of the DanTysk offshore wind farm in Germany, and the extension of the Kentish Flats offshore wind farm in the UK.

The underlying operating profit in the company’s wind department decreased from SEK 1.7 bn in FY 2014 to SEK 1.47 bn in FY 2015, mainly due to the SEK 1.2 bn compensation that DanTysk received during the fourth quarter of 2014 for the delay in the wind farm’s connection to the grid. Excluding this one-time effect, the underlying operating profit improved as a result of higher revenue and higher electricity generation, mainly owing to the commissioning of the new wind farms.

Overall, the company recorded SEK 19.8 bn loss in FY 2015, compared to SEK 8.3 bn net loss in FY 2014. Vattenfall identified impairment losses, higher provisions and other items affecting comparability totalling SEK 32.2 billion as the main culprits for the increased net loss.

Offshore WIND Staff