ScottishPower renewables operational profits have doubled in size in the last nine months.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were €301m, up from €150m in 2014. The company said this was due to increased production and currency gains due to the strength of sterling.
Part of the success of the UK business was down to Iberdrola’s first offshore wind farm West of Duddon Sands which achieved a load factor of 44.4%. This represents the percentage of output delivered against the theoretical maximum.
The load factor for onshore wind went up by 1.6% to 22.8% and total renewables production went up by 30.3% compared to the same period last year.
Iberdrola, owner of Scottish Power, announced its worldwide financial results today for the first nine months of 2015 which showed overall net profit up by 7.8% to €1920m.
Iberdrola expects to invest £1.3bn in Scottish Power in total in 2015, mainly for upgrades of power transmission and distribution networks in Scotland, north Wales and north west England.
Scottish Power chief corporate officer, Keith Anderson said: “Iberdola’s third quarter results show that onshore and offshore wind can be significant contributors to the UK’s generation mix.
“Our record annual investment of £1.3 billion remains on track and the new contracts awarded today will support our ambitious programme to deliver some of the most significant upgrades to our network in more than half a century.
“Between now and 2023 we are investing more than £4 billion in total, further improving reliability for our customers and making our network more resilient to extreme winter weather.”
Scottish Power awarded 13 new contracts worth £196m over four years to deliver maintenance and upgrade works on overhead power line networks in the UK. The contracts will support 400 jobs and create 150 new trainee posts.
Scottish Power’s networks business saw EBITDA grow from €727m to €821m helped by network upgrades and currency gains. However, the supply and generation strand of the business saw EBITDA dip by 17.8%, because of the higher renewable obligation certificates and feed-in-tariff costs.
Image: West of Duddon Sands (Scottish Power)
