Swiss renewable energy company Axpo has published its financial results for the first half of the 2022/23 financial year, reporting greater income and earnings compared to the first half of the previous financial year.
The company’s total revenue reached CHF6.5 billion (US$7.2 billion) in the six months to March 2023, up from CHF6 billion in the first half of the previous financial year, while earnings before interest and tax increased considerably across the period, from CHF1 billion to CHF3.9 billion. Axpo’s profits after tax hit CHF3.2 billion in this period.
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“The markets remain very challenging, but our diversified strategy also presents us with many opportunities,” said Axpo CEO Cristoph Brand, commenting on what the company called “exceptional” half-year results. “Together, politics, the industry and society are called upon to create the framework conditions so that Switzerland can achieve both a high level of supply security and the climate targets.”
Brand is eager to hold up the industry’s end of this bargain, with Axpo planning to add two new solar projects in the Swiss Alps in the coming years. The Ovra Solara Magriel and NalpSolar projects, both with a capacity of 10MW, will work alongside the company’s AlpinSolar project, a 2.2MW facility already in production. Axpo also plans to build 600 roof-mounted solar systems in Switzerland per year.
The company’s solar plans are ambitious, but questions remain as to how it will meet its lofty goals in the next few years. Axpo plans to build 1.2GW of capacity in Switzerland by the end of the decade, and a total of 10GW across Europe by the same time, but many of its projects operate on a much smaller scale. Last week, Axpo began construction on its first solar plant in Spain, a 200MW project that is an important first step, but still leaves the company short of its targets.
Yet Axpo’s strong financial results could demonstrate an ability to meet these goals in the coming years. The company announced that it received inflow funds of CHF1.5 billion in the six months to March 2023, as a result of hedging Swiss electricity production, and plans to use this money to invest into Swiss renewables and grid infrastructure.
Brand and the company’s leadership will be optimistic that its investments of CHF137 million into these areas could help the group realise its long-term goals.
“There are technical solutions to address the challenge of a secure and sustainable energy supply in Switzerland,” said Brand. “Axpo has tremendous expertise in the expansion of renewable energies and intends to further strengthen its leading role in Switzerland. What is, however, needed first and foremost is the regulatory basis for construction to take place.”