High electricity prices boost Greencoat profits to €136.6m

High electricity prices helped boost profits at wind farm owner Greencoat Renewables to €136.6 million last year, according to figures published on Monday.

Greencoat is one of the Republic’s biggest wind farm owners and has been expanding its business into Europe and solar power in recent years.

Accounts published on Monday show that pretax profit almost doubled last year to €136.6 million from €71.1 million in 2021.

Greencoat said that wholesale electricity prices averaged €226 a mega watt hour (MWh) in 2022 while a Government scheme to encourage investment in renewables guaranteed it a minimum of €83/MWh.

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Last year Greencoat reported that Irish wholesale prices had risen to €200/MWh during the last quarter of 2021, when soaring natural gas costs prompted electricity companies to begin increasing their charges.

The company notes that the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff scheme provides the company with certainty, with “no downside exposure to electricity price”.

During the year Greencoat bought businesses in the Republic, Spain, France and Finland, as well as 50 per cent of an offshore wind farm in Germany. The deals grew its overall capacity to 1,164 mega watts (MW) last year from 800MW in 2021.

Greencoat generated €215 million net cash last year, against €71 million in 2021.

The company plans to pay shareholders a dividend of 6.18 cent a share, from 6.06 cent in 2021. It noted on Monday that it intends paying 6.42 cent for 2023.

Chairman Ronan Murphy said 2022 was a successful year for the business. “We have built a portfolio of diversified technology across both onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery, providing us with a robust platform from which to capitalise on the opportunities ahead,” he added.