Spanish energy company Iberdrola reported a fall in operating profit and revenue from its renewables business in 2019 compared with 2018, mainly down to lower hydro output resulting from low rainfall in Spain.
Operating profit was down 12.5% to just over €1.22bn last year, while revenue fell 5.2% to just above €3.83bn, the company said in its 2019 results.
Iberdrola said hydro output was down 20% on the previous year at 17,941 gigawatt-hours, contributing to an overall fall in renewables output of almost 4%.
Offshore wind generation grew over 34% to 2211GWh, driven by the fully operational Wikinger project off Germany, while onshore output increased 2.4% to 37,216GWh.
The average price for Iberdrola’s renewable power was €67.7 a megawatt-hour, which it said was in line with the average price in 2018.
Average operating capacity was up 1.2% last year or by 334.3MW as more solar in Mexico, onshore wind in the US and hydro in Brazil came online.
However, this was more than offset by the low hydro output in the company’s home market.
Iberdrola said 53 of the 102 turbines had been installed at the 714MW East Anglia 1 offshore wind farm off the east coast of the UK and the project is on course to be fully operational this year.
The project has also recently complied with all the operational conditions precedent to begin receiving payments under the Contract for Difference regime.
Overall, Iberdrola reported a record net profit of €3.4bn last year, up 13% on 2018.
This was driven by the company’s networks, retail and generation business arms, Iberdrola said.
The company made investments of €8.16bn last year, of which renewables accounted for 41% or €3.34bn, it added.