Iberdrola’s revenue from renewables was €719.5m in the first quarter of the year, up slightly from €713.5m in the same period last year.
However, earnings fell to €434m in the period from €456.9m in the first three months of 2016.
The company said the drop was the result of adverse weather conditions in Spain that led to lower wind production – down 17.3% – and lower hydro output, which was 44% lower than the previous year.
As a result, overall output from renewables fell 10% to 16,332 gigawatt-hours compared with the same period last year. Onshore wind was down 3.8% at 9502GWh, hydro fell 18% to 6413GWh, but offshore wind was up 3.7% to 218GWh.
Despite the earnings drop, the company posted an increased net profit from renewables of €139.3m in the first quarter of 2017, up from €136.3m in 2016.
The company’s installed renewables capacity rose slightly from last year to 27,886MW from 27,057MW at the end of the first three months of last year. The increase came mainly from onshore and offshore wind and hydro.
Overall, Iberdrola’s revenue in the first three months of the year stood at €8289.5m, up 1.3% on the €8184.8m posted in the same period last year.
Earnings were down 8.2% and net profit fell 4.7% to €827.6m from €868.7m last year.
The company said closure of the Longannet coal-fired plant in the UK was one of the reasons for the drop and it expects the “effects to gradually settle down throughout the year”.
Image: Iberdrola Renewables
