The renewables arm of the German energy giant reported an operating result of €151 million, singling out its 576MW Gwynt y Môr wind farm off the coast of Wales as a key reason for the group’s growth.
“These investments are increasingly paying off,” said RWE chief executive Peter Terium in reference to Gwynt y Môr and the company’s 290MW Nordsee Ost offshore wind farm.
The Welsh project is already producing electricity for the UK grid from a large proportion of the turbines but will reach full commercial operations in the middle of the year, in line with the Nordsee Ost project.
“They will start to provide stable returns at that point,” Terium added.
But the success of the renewables business stands in contrast to the group performance which has slipped on year as market conditions continue to threaten profits from large European utilities.
RWE’s earnings for the past quarter declined by 3 per cent to €2.2 billion. The operating result fell by 5 per cent to €1.6 billion. Although recurrent net income improved by 10 per cent to €877 million analysts were quick to point out that was due to a one-off sale of securities, improving the financial result which since 2014 is reported as net income.
“While this will flow through to the bottom line for year-end expectations, it will be largely offset by higher tax,” RBC Capital analysts said.