By Sergio Goncalves
LISBON (Reuters) – Wind power producer EDP Renovaveis posted an unexpected 2024 net loss of 556 million euros ($584 million) on Wednesday, citing one-off charges on projects in Colombia and the United States, partly due to the new U.S. administration’s stance on offshore wind.
The renewables arm of Portugal’s EDP said it would moderate capacity expansion and install a total of 3.5 gigawatts of new capacity over the next two years, down from 2024’s record 3.8 GW.
Analysts polled by EDPR expected an average profit of 272 million euros.
The company said its bottom line was hit by non-recurring charges worth 777 million euros, with a decision to exit wind farms in Colombia costing 590 million euros.
A 133 million euro impairment booked in the United States was a precautionary measure due to uncertainty around offshore projects following a January 20 presidential executive order.
President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to halt issuance of any new or renewed approvals for offshore wind projects, and to consider terminating or amending existing leases.
“It’s been a turbulent few months,” EDPR CEO Miguel Stilwell de Andrade told analysts on a call.
Recurring net profit, excluding one-offs, fell more than 50% to 221 million euros.
EDPR seeks to rotate more than 2.5 GW of assets – part of its strategy of selling mature plants to finance new ones – and expects more than 3 billion euros of proceeds this year and next.
It booked just 179 million euros in capital gains from the sale of stakes in four wind and solar projects after making 460 million euros in 2023.
Electricity sales rose 4% to 2.32 billion euros in 2024, supported by a 6% increase in power generation to around 36,600 gigawatt-hours (GWh) due to robust growth in North America and Asia-Pacific, it said.
Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 16% year-on-year to 1.53 billion euros, below the 1.74 billion euros expected on average by analysts.
($1 = 0.9514 euros)
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves, editing by Andrei Khalip, Kirsten Donovan)
