US renewables developer NextEra Energy Partners has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2023, which includes net income of US$112 million and adjusted earnings before inflation, taxation, depreciation and amortization of US$454 million.
Solar projects contributed considerably to this growth, with the company adding 1.2GW of new solar capacity to its portfolio in the second quarter of 2023 and buying a ready-to-build solar farm with a capacity of 100MW in Florida in December. According to NextEra’s forecasts, the company will commission 5.8GW of solar capacity between 2023 and 2024, more than half of the 12.6GW of power generation and energy storage capacity it expects to add over this period.
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Beyond this, NextEra expects to add 7.2GW of new solar capacity between 2025 and 2026, more than triple its expected wind capacity additions over this period, and more than half of the 12.1GW of power generation and storage capacity it aims to add over these years.
“From solar supply chain challenges to higher inflation and interest rates, NextEra Energy navigated through a challenging environment the last two years, delivering compound annual adjusted earnings per share growth of roughly 11.5% since 2021,” said NextEra vice president Kristen Rose at a conference call announcing the results.
“These were unprecedented events for our sector and clear headwinds for renewables. But disruption often presents opportunity.”
The company’s leadership spoke repeatedly about the greater regulatory stability in the US solar sector in recent months, and how this has been of benefit to US companies. This includes the Treasury providing guidance on how companies can benefit from the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit, and greater clarity on the anti-dumping/countervailing duty (AD/CVD), which is on track to come into force in June, despite legal pressures from some in the sector.
“The Commerce Department has provided the final determination around circumvention providing solar suppliers with more certainty around the rules and expectations of importing solar equipment,” added NextEra president and CEO John Ketchum.
“New solar supply chains have been established in the US and five internationally, leading to lower solar panel prices, and we see the continued longer-term push towards electric vehicles (EVs) as being incrementally positive for continued reductions in battery prices.”
Ketchum also noted that solar panel and battery prices have declined by around 25% in the US over the last two years, and is optimistic that this will reduce barriers to expanding manufacturing capacity in the US.
