In the first quarter of 2024, RWE posted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of €1.7 billion and adjusted net income of €0.8 billion. With net investments of €2.3 billion in the first quarter of 2024, RWE continues to expand its portfolio.
Approximately €1 billion was attributable to the acquisition of three offshore wind development projects from Vattenfall off the coast of the UK. Additionally, RWE invested more than twice as much in the construction of new wind and solar power plants in the first quarter as in the same period last year. Proceeds from the sale of a 49% stake in the Dogger Bank South offshore wind projects in the UK to Masdar had a counteracting effect. RWE is currently building plants with a total capacity of 8.3 gigawatts (GW). These include the offshore wind projects Sofia off the UK coast with 1.4 GW and Thor in Denmark with 1.1 GW. RWE is also driving forward the expansion of onshore wind and solar energy and the construction of new batteries with more than 100 projects under construction in Europe and the USA.
In the Offshore Wind segment, adjusted EBITDA amounted to €548 million, compared to €473 million in the first quarter of 2023. The increase in earnings is mainly due to improved wind conditions. In the same period of the previous year, these were below the assumed average.
The Onshore Wind/Solar segment recorded adjusted EBITDA of €341 million compared to €247 million in the first quarter of 2023. The positive earnings development is mainly due to the commissioning of new capacity and the recognition of the business activities of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses in the US for the full three months. Moreover, wind conditions at the European onshore sites improved marginally overall, which also had a positive effect.
RWE forecasts adjusted EBITDA within a range of €5.2 billion to €5.8 billion. The company is maintaining this guidance, although RWE expects to close at the lower end of the forecast range. The reason for this is that electricity prices have dropped significantly since November 2023. The same is true for adjusted net income, which is expected to be between €1.9 billion and €2.4 billion.
