Ørsted’s Net Profit Up 186 Per Cent in H1 2021

World’s leading offshore wind developer Ørsted recorded a DKK 7.142 billion (EUR 960 million) net profit in the first half of 2021, a 186 per cent increase compared to DKK 2.493 billion net profit recorded in the first half of 2020.

The company’s operating profit (EBITDA) for the first half year amounted to DKK 13.1 billion, a DKK 3.3 billion increase compared to the same period last year.

The increase was driven by a gain of DKK 5.4 billion from the 50 per cent farm-down of the Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farm in the Netherlands, the company said.

Earnings from offshore and onshore wind farms in operation were DKK 0.3 billion lower compared to the same period last year. The increased generation capacity from new wind farms in operation was more than offset by significantly lower wind speeds across the portfolio, the company said.

Offshore wind power generation in the period decreased by one per cent to 7.1 TWh compared to H1 2020, mainly due to significantly lower wind speeds which was partly offset by the generation from Borssele 1 & 2 which was fully commissioned in December 2020.

In the first half of 2021, Ørsted added 731 MW of installed offshore wind capacity for a total of 7,551 MW as of 31 June.

Higher TNUoS tariffs due to more UK wind farms, lower earnings from Horns Rev 2 due to subsidy period ending in October 2020, and lower ROC recycle prices also had a negative impact.

Earnings from existing partnerships decreased by DKK 1.8 billion compared with the same period last year.

The first half of 2020 saw high earnings from the construction agreement related to the Hornsea 1 transmission asset, whereas the first half of 2021 was negatively impacted by a warranty provision towards partners related to cable protection system issues at some of the company’s offshore wind farms.

”In the first half of 2021, we’ve delivered good operational performance, while reaching multiple significant milestones and engaging in a range of strategic partnerships,” Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted, said.

”Within our Offshore business, Ocean Wind 2 was awarded a 1,148 MW contract in New Jersey, fully utilising our Ocean Wind lease area. Our total awarded US portfolio now exceeds 4 GW. We also entered into several new strategic partnerships in Norway, Korea, Scotland, and Japan.”

Ørsted has maintained the full-year EBITDA guidance of DKK 15-16 billion.

However, due to the significantly lower than normal wind speeds across the entire offshore wind portfolio, including in July, and the warranty provision towards partners related to cable protection system issues at some of the wind farms, the company currently expects the outcome in the low end of the guided range.

The guidance is based on an assumption of normal wind speeds in the last five months of the year. In line with previous years, the EBITDA guidance does not include earnings from new partnerships during the year, which means that the gain from the Borssele 1 & 2 farm-down is excluded from the full-year guidance.

The full-year gross investment guidance was increased from DKK 32-34 billion to DKK 39-41 billion

”At our Capital Markets Day in June, we updated our long-term financial guidance and raised our strategic ambition for renewable capacity to approx. 50 GW in 2030,” Nipper said.

”As our industry’s sustainability leader, we’ve set the ambition that no later than 2030, all new projects commissioned must have a net-positive biodiversity impact. Furthermore, we commit to either reuse, recycle, or recover all of the wind turbine blades in our global portfolio upon decommissioning. In addition, in our H1 2021 report, we have taken the first steps to commence reporting of our revenue, EBITDA, and CAPEX according to the new EU taxonomy whose purpose is to support the green transition.”