Stronger-than-expected financial performance:
Revenues: up 15.5% to €1,173.1 million
EBITDA: up 47.3% to €334.2 million
Net income: up 38.7% to €97.9 million
Brisk pace of expansion maintained: 831.8 MW in gross capacity commissioned in 2009
Total installed capacity: 2,945.4 MW gross
Ramp-up in solar energy: 219.7 MWp in capacity in service or under construction
Expansion in line with operational objectives for 2012, which now stand at 4,200 MW net1 (instead of 4,000 MW), including 500 MWp in solar PV
2010 EBITDA objective:
Between €430 million and €450 million, i.e. growth of 37% to 43% excluding non-recurring items
Commenting on this report, Pâris Mouratoglou, Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated: “2009 was a very good year for EDF Energies Nouvelles. Despite tough conditions, we maintained our pace of development and again recorded very strong improvement in our operating and financial performance, which was even better than expected. Wind energy continued to make headway in all the countries in which we are present, while solar photovoltaic gained momentum, significantly exceeding the full-year capacity targets that we set a year ago. 2009 was also marked by the take-off in Distributed Energies and notably residential solar photovoltaic, which also boasts very substantial development potential. Looking ahead to 2010, we are confident in our ability to deliver further strong and profitable growth.”
CHANGE IN THE METHOD USED TO CONSOLIDATE US FACILITIES
Certain wind power projects in the United States were developed in the form of a partnership with financial investors known as “tax investors” in order to monetize the tax benefits available under the US legislation (“Production Tax Credits” and accelerated tax depreciation), since enXco, EDF Energies Nouvelles’ US subsidiary, does not have a sufficiently large tax base to absorb them on its own. Given the Group’s assessment of the governance and risksharing arrangements between the partners, these wind farms have to date been proportionally consolidated.
The adoption in the United States of the Safe Harbor Act2 led to a reassessment of the balance of risks between the partners. In addition, the publication by the International Accounting Standards Board of Exposure Draft 10 Consolidated Financial Statements provided guidance on analyzing the rights of these partners, which have turned out to be more protective than participating rights.
Accordingly, to better reflect the economic reality and substance of these agreements in the consolidated financial statements, i.e. the fact these wind farms are controlled by the Group, it was decided that these entities should now be fully consolidated. The relevant facilities are the Oasis (60 MW), Fenton (205.5 MW) and Wapsi North (100.5 MW) wind farms. The Group’s financial results presented in this press release take into account this change in accounting method, which was applied retroactively from 1 January 2008.
Wind energy
Wind energy capacity in service amounted to a gross figure of 2,650 MW at 31 December 2009, up 619.4 MW compared with the previous year. All countries contributed to the growth in capacity with a nice balance between Europe (up 329.3 MW) and North America (290.1 MW).
During the fourth quarter, the Group commissioned the Hoosier wind farm in the United States (106 MW), as well as 37.5 MW in capacity in Mexico, 45 MW in Turkey and 25.3 MW in Italy. At 31 December 2009, gross wind energy capacity under construction stood at 713.4 MW.
Solar energy
Gross capacity in service nearly quadrupled from 20.8 MWp at 31 December 2008 to 80.9 MWp at 31 December 2009. New facilities were commissioned in France (up 18.5 MWp), Italy (up 13.2 MWp), Canada (up 23.4 MWp) and the United States (up 4.4 MWp). At 31 December 2009, solar capacity under construction stood at 138.8 MWp.
All in all, capacity in service or under construction reached 219.7 MWp, compared with 49.9 MWp at 31 December 2008. As a result, the Group’s target of 100 MWp to 150 MWp in service or under construction, which was announced in early 2009, was exceeded by a significant margin.
Revenues from the Generation business grew by 52.6% to €362.1 million. Wind turbines generated electricity remained the key engine of growth, recording a very steep increase of 60.7% over the year. In spite of very unfavorable wind conditions in the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States, wind energy generation was boosted by the full-year impact of the wind farms commissioned in 2008 (813 MW gross/517 MW net) and the contribution made by those commissioned in 2009 (619 MW gross/530 MW net).
Solar-generated electricity, which recorded a very strong increase, grew on the back of the full-year contribution made by the Narbone facility commissioned in France during 2008 and the 60.1 MWp in capacity that entered service in France, Italy, Canada and the United States during 2009.
Thermal production was affected by strikes in the French Antilles at the beginning of the year. Conversely, hydro, which enjoyed a strong second half, and biomass, which was underpinned by the resumption of production at the Lucena plant in Spain, contributed to revenue growth at the Generation business.
With operations in Europe and North America, EDF Energies Nouvelles is a market leader in green electricity production. With a development focused on wind energy for several years and more recently on solar photovoltaic, the Group is also present in other segments of the renewable energies market: small hydro, marine energy, biomass, biofuel and biogas. In addition, the Group is expanding in the distributed renewable energies sector. EDF Energies Nouvelles, 50 %-owned by the EDF Group, is listed in Euronext Paris since November 2006 (code "EEN", ISIN code: FR0010400143).
www.edf-energies-nouvelles.com
