RWE achieved adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of €1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020 (Q1 2019: €1.1 billion). This represents an increase of about 19%. Adjusted EBIT also recorded a sharp rise, advancing to €955 million (Q1 2019: €749 million). Adjusted net income totalled €603 million.
Management plans to make net investments of about €5 billion to grow the renewable energy portfolio to over 13GW by 2022. Construction of the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm in the UK has been underway since January. The final investment decision for the German North Sea project Kaskasi was reached in April. Both of these wind farms are scheduled to start producing electricity in 2022. In its quest to tap deeper into the Asian offshore wind market, RWE has joined forces with a strategic partner to plan a project of up to 448MW off the north-western coast of Taiwan. In the USA, RWE recently commissioned its 24th onshore wind farm: Peyton Creek with a net installed capacity of 151 MW. And in Germany, construction work has begun for the Jüchen co-operative wind farm (27 MW), which is being built on recultivated land at the Garzweiler opencast mine.
Adjusted EBITDA recorded in the offshore wind segment jumped to €431 million in the first quarter of 2020. (Q1 2019: €329 million). The growth of over 30% primarily stemmed from higher wind levels. RWE expects this segment to close the current year with adjusted EBITDA of between €900 million and €1.1 billion.
The Onshore Wind/Solar segment also posted a rise, with adjusted EBITDA jumping by about 20% to €209 million from the €174 million pro-forma figure in the first quarter of 2019. Two factors were the main drivers of this growth: favourable weather conditions as well as the commissioning of new generation capacity. RWE anticipates adjusted EBITDA of €500 million to €600 million for this segment in the year underway.
RWE confirms its outlook for 2020: adjusted EBITDA is expected to amount to between €2.7 billion and €3.0 billion, with adjusted EBIT totalling between €1.2 billion and €1.5 billion. The target set for adjusted net income is €850 million to €1.15 billion.
