innogy Prepping Kaskasi and Triton Knoll OW Projects for April Auctions

German energy company innogy SE is preparing to participate in two offshore wind auctions, in Germany and in the UK, in 2017 with two projects which have a combined capacity of nearly 1.2GW.

The Essen-based company will participate in the 2017 offshore wind auctions with the 272MW Kaskasi and the 900MW Triton Knoll projects, which are located off Helgoland, Germany, and off the coast of Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, respectively. Both auctions are scheduled for April 2017.

Overall, innogy plans to invest between EUR 1.5 billion and EUR 1.7 billion in its Renewables division from 2017 to 2019, the RWE’s spin-off revealed in its first annual report since the split.

The company also said that the investments in renewable energy projects will not be limited to Europe, as the company plans to expand its foothold to the USA, the Middle East, and North Africa.

In particular, innogy is currently analysing and evaluating the Irish and US markets with a view to expanding the company’s wind power activities there.

Looking at the company’s first annual results since RWE’s business split, innogy reported reduced earnings at its Renewables division in 2016 mainly due to low wind levels.

Compared to the previous year, at innogy’s major generation sites in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland it recorded declines, some of which were significant, especially during the second half of the year.

Moreover, earnings achieved in the same period last year included extraordinary income from the sale of shares in the Galloper offshore wind project and the disposal of the network infrastructure of the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm.

Adjusted EBITDA for this division declined by 18 per cent to EUR 671 million, similar to adjusted EBIT, which dropped by 26 per cent to EUR 359 million in 2016.