RWE’s offshore wind business reported a 12% increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first three quarters of 2020 to €738m, compared with €660m in the same period in 2019.

The increase can be largely attributed to better wind conditions in the first quarter of 2020, RWE said.

In its core business results for the first three quarters of 2020, which includes offshore wind, onshore wind and solar, RWE posted a 4% increase in EBITDA to €1.8bn, compared with €1.77bn in the same period in 2019.
Onshore wind and solar achieved an EBITDA of €336m in the first three quarters of 2020 compared with €311m in the same period in 2019.

In the onshore wind and solar segment, the performance was driven by the commissioning of new onshore wind and solar power plants in Europe and North America, and higher wind volumes.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the commissioning of some plants has been delayed until next year, in the US in particular, RWE said.

For the current year, RWE continues to expect adjusted EBITDA of between €500 million and €600 million for this segment.

In the first three quarters of 2020, the company commissioned about 500MW of new wind and solar power plants, with about 800MW more expected during the fourth quarter.

RWE said it is on track to expand its wind and solar power portfolio to about 10GW by the end of the year.

In the first three quarters of 2020, capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment amounted to €1.6bn and €1.3bn of this went into the construction of new wind and solar power plants, including Triton Knoll offshore wind farm in the UK, as well as battery storage.

This equates to 85% of capital expenditure on green projects.

RWE is also leading what is currently Germany’s largest hydrogen project, GET H2.

Together with partners, the company is currently planning an electrolyser with a generating capacity of 100MW at RWE’s power plant location in Lingen in Lower Saxony.

RWE CFO Markus Krebber (pictured) said: “The strong operating result we achieved for the first three quarters shows that RWE has weathered the coronavirus crisis well.

“We therefore confirm our earnings forecast for 2020. Our plan to increase the dividend for the current fiscal year also remains unchanged. Our successful capital increase in summer will enable us to accelerate our mid to long-term growth in renewables.

“We have already taken the first step by acquiring the Nordex pipeline, a transaction we have just completed.”