Orsted has reported a 34% rise in operating profit in 2021, the Danish developer said in its annual report.
EBITDA totalled Dkr24.3bn (€3.3bn), an increase of Dkr6.2bn in 2021 compared with 2020.
The developer’s earnings included a gain of Dkr8.5bn from the 50% farm-downs of Borssele 1 & 2 and Greater Changhua 1 offshore wind farms.
Operating profit excluding these new partnerships amounted to Dkr15.8bn, which compares with guidance of Dkr15-16bn at the beginning of the year.
The directors said the figures came in well in line with expectations and delivered strong financial results despite unforeseen negative impacts during the year.
These included lower wind speeds, the European energy crunch, and provisions due to updated wake assumptions and cable protection system issues at some of our offshore wind farms.
This was due to exceptionally good performance by its CHP plants and our gas business.
Net profit amounted to Dkr10.9bn, and return on capital employed came in at 15%.
Orsted’s green share of heat and power generation ended at 90% in 2021, the same as last year.
Orsted group president and chief executive Mads Nipper said: “We successfully navigated the challenges during the year, and we have achieved significant results in 2021, both strategically, operationally, and financially.
“We secured 4.5GW of firm offshore wind capacity in tenders and auctions, corresponding to 25% of the total awarded capacity in 2021 and 50% above our strategic ambition of adding 3GW offshore wind per year.
“This strongly solidifies our global leadership position and proves our ability to differentiate and compete in offshore wind despite increasing competition.
“In the US, we were awarded 1148MW in New Jersey for our Ocean Wind 2 project and 846MW in Maryland for our Skipjack 2 project.
“In Poland, we were awarded 2543MW for our Baltica 2 & 3 projects together with our partner PGE.
“Within Onshore, we added 1.2GW of firm capacity through organic growth and acquisitions in Europe and the US, and we installed our 1000th onshore wind turbine.
“These very strong contributions increased our firm capacity to 26.1GW from 20.4GW at the end of 2020 and keeps us well on track to deliver on our 2030 ambition of 50GW renewable capacity.
“We achieved a strong operational performance in 2021, with our assets remaining fully operational and with normal availability rates.
“We are currently constructing two of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, Hornsea 2 in the UK and Greater Changhua 1 & 2a in Taiwan, and we expect to commission the two wind farms in the first and second half of 2022, respectively.
“We expect operating profit, excluding new partnerships, to be DDkr19-21bn in 2022, positively impacted by ramp-up from new wind and solar assets.
“Gross investments for 2022 are expected to amount to Dkr38-42bn, reflecting a high level of activity in our build-out of renewable assets.
“We have come a long way, and we have built a strong position as the undisputed global leader in offshore wind.
“As we have demonstrated that large-scale offshore wind is feasible and scalable, we will continue to apply our courage and capability to innovate, scale, and accelerate the transformation of the world’s energy systems and thereby continue to be a catalyst for a world that runs entirely on green energy.”