French renewables developer and power producer Voltalia saw its annual electricity production reach a record high last year, with the company boosted by a 25% rise in installed solar capacity.
Annual electricity production in 2021 was 4.1TWh, a 51% increase year-on-year, as the firm’s installed solar capacity jumped to 304MW thanks to additions in markets such as the UK, Portugal, France, Italy and Brazil as well as the growth of its Helexia subsidiary.
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Voltalia’s 2021 revenue was up 77% year-on-year to €412 million (US$460 million), driven also by a doubling of revenues in its services business, which includes renewables development, construction, procurement and operations and maintenance. Group normalised EBITDA was up 68% to €170 million.
“With a record year in 2021 for its energy sales as well as for each of its services segments, Voltalia is taking another step in its growth trajectory,” said CEO Sébastien Clerc.
In the UK, the company began construction last year on the 50MW South Farm solar project, which will supply electricity to the City of London Corporation. It has since commissioned the 32MW / 32MWh Hallen Battery Energy Storage Scheme near Bristol, providing frequency management, balancing and other ancillary services.
Revenue growth in France was bolstered by the commissioning of two solar PV plants: the 3MW Cabanon agrivoltaic facility and the 5MW Laspeyres project, constructed at a former stone quarry.
With 1.7GW of renewables in operation or under construction as of December 2021 – a 34% increase on the end of 2020 – Voltalia said it is on track to achieve its target of having 2.6GW in operation or under construction by year-end 2023.
Its installed solar portfolio is set to grow significantly with the completion of the SSM1&2 plants, currently under construction in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. Backed by power purchase agreements with offtakers including petrochemical company Braskem and utility Copel, the projects have a combined capacity of 320MW and are due to be commissioned in the first half of this year.
Voltalia said the ramp-up of its installed capacity should enable it to achieve normalised EBITDA in the range of €275 – 300 million by 2023.