Renewables spending bears fruit at Iberdrola

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola said record investment in its network and renewables division has reaped rewards with net profit growing 20.4% in the first nine months of the year.

by David Weston 30 October 2019

Production from Iberdrola's offshore wind sites in the UK and Germany partly offset lower earnings from its Spanish hydro sites

The group recorded net profit of €2.516 billion for the January-September period, after investing €4.727 billion — a 29.7% increase year-on-year.

Roughly 87% of the investment total was spent in the company’s networks and renewables business unit, the company said.

Half of that total, equating to around €2.22 billion, was invested in new renewable capacity — more than 80% higher than in the same period of 2018.

Iberdrola said it would have 5.22GW of installed renewable energy capacity by the end of 2019.

Pre-tax earnings (Ebitda) in Iberdrola’s renewables business did fall 4.5% year-on-year to €1.67 billion due to lower hydroelectric production in Spain, the firm said. It was partly offset by increased offshore wind production in the UK and Germany.