French renewable power company Voltalia has published its financial results for the third quarter of this year, which include a turnover of €126.2 million (US$133.3 million), and a total production of 1.2GWh across its renewables portfolio.
The company’s turnover is identical to its turnover in the previous quarter, and in the first nine months of the year, total turnover only increased marginally, from €324.1 million in the first nine months of 2022 to €325.2 million in the same period this year. Much of the company’s productivity has been disrupted by the August blackout in Brazil, which interrupted around 19GW of electric load across the country, and which Voltalia said had a “significant” impact on its operations.
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However, the company has commissioned a number of projects this quarter, which helped drive a 5% increase in energy sales from the second quarter to the third quarter, and kept turnover stable. These include the 260MW Solar Serra do Mel facility in Brazil, and a portfolio in Portugal with a combined capacity of 50.6MW, commissioned in July and August, respectively.
“Despite the restrictions put in place following the widespread power cut in Brazil in August, production in the third quarter is increasing, as in each of the first two quarters,” said Voltalia CEO Sébastien Clerc.
“On the strength of this progress, and in anticipation of further project disposals for which negotiations are now at an advanced stage, we are reaffirming our 2023 EBITDA target of around €275 million, representing a doubling compared with 2022.”
The company has expanded or confirmed a number of its long-term plans following this quarter’s results. Voltalia now aims to have 2.8GW of power capacity in operation and construction by the end of this year, up from 2.6GW previously forecast, and aims to expand this capacity to 5GW by 2027. The company also plans to operate 8GW of capacity on behalf of other companies by 2027, but did not specify how these figures would be split between solar and wind projects.
Voltalia has also expanded its business of building and then selling on solar facilities to other power companies. This month, the company sold a 420MW project at the ready-to-build stage to Brazilian firm Newave Energia, and the success of this deal could encourage the company to pursue similar agreements, and bring in additional revenue streams, in the future.
