ESB has recognised a charge of €135m in its half year results related to the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind project, its joint venture development with EDF Renewables off Scotland.
The “exceptional provision” arises as a result of delays to the construction programme experienced during 2024.
ESB remains confident that the project will achieve full commercial operation in 2025 and will be a valuable asset for ESB, as well as reducing carbon emissions from electricity generation over the longer term.
For the period ended 30 June 2024 (H1 2024), ESB reported an operating profit of €446m, a reduction of €230m (34%) on the same period last year.
The reduction compared to last year is primarily due to lower energy margins earned in ESB’s Generation and Trading business reflecting the “continued normalisation of global energy markets, following the extraordinary volatility and peaks in pricing experienced in 2022 and early 2023”.
During the first half of 2024, ESB made substantial capital investments of €751m in energy infrastructure and network resilience projects, all of which is funded through the profits generated and additional borrowings.
Almost 80% of this investment is in electricity network infrastructure under agreed regulatory programmes.
ESB Networks has now connected approximately 6GW of grid-scale renewables, including over 1GW of solar generation, to Ireland’s electricity grid.
ESB’s chief financial officer Paul Stapleton said: “ESB’s performance for the first half of 2024 is reflective of more stable global energy markets following an unprecedented period of upward volatility in energy prices.
“The significant softening of wholesale market prices has reduced the level of profitability in our generation business in both Ireland and the UK compared to the same period last year.
“However, increased profits from our networks’ businesses, reflecting the continued substantial investment in those areas, provided resilience to the Group position and a robust overall performance.”