The Swedish energy group Vattenfall has warned low electricity prices earlier this year have “dampened” the earnings of its offshore windfarms around the UK.
According to the firm’s interim financial report for January to June, electricity prices during the second three months of 2019 were lower than in the same period last year.
Writing in the report, Vattenfall’s chief executive and president, Magnus Hall said this had “dampened earnings performance” in both the Nordic countries and its windfarms in British waters.
But Hall added that owing to price hedges and a good trading result, the impact of the lower prices was “limited”.
The report adds that the group’s underlying operating profit for the first six months was SEK 3.6 billion, which was “largely in line” with the previous year.
But profits for the period fell by SEK 1.7 billion to SEK 1.3 billion, mainly due to tax costs in Germany.
The interim report also highlights a number of windfarms that have been commissioned in the last year, including the 97MW facility in Aberdeen Bay.
“Offshore wind power is one of Vattenfall’s most important growth areas,” writes Hall in the report.
“Altogether, underlying operating profit for our wind power operations increased by SEK 0.2 billion during the first half of the year, to SEK 1.9 billion, owing to contribution from new capacity.”
In April, Vattenfall announced a deal with Manx Utilities to provide flexible electricity trading opportunities with the British wholesale market.
Under the agreement, the Isle of Man’s publicly-owned energy supplier will buy and sell power through Vattenfall’s Flex Expert electricity trading platform, with power imported and exported through the island’s interconnector to the mainland.
Last year, it installed a record-breaking 8.8MW wind turbine at its European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in Aberdeen Bay.
The upgraded version of MHI Vestas’ V164 model is the most powerful wind turbine to be deployed commercially anywhere in the world.