Vestas pre-tax profits increased by 75% in its 2015 financial year on the back of a strong order intake totalling almost 9GW.

Danish manufacturer posted full year 2015 pre-tax profits of €925m, up from €523m in 2014, on the back of €8.4bn in revenues.

The latter figure was up from €6.9bn in 2014 while the EBIT margin was 10.2%. Net profits were €685m compared with €392m in 2014.

Vestas’ investments for the year totalled €425 million and included the acquistion of servicing firm UpWind Solutions in the US. For 2016, investments are expected to increase to €500 million, including the €88 million deal to buy German servicing specialist Availon, announced in January:

“The activity level and earnings were driven by the stable execution of strong order books for wind turbines and service, both of which continued to grow during the year as a result of solid execution and a favourable market environment”, the company said.

Chief executive Anders Runevad also commented these figures saying the company posted its highest ever net profit and a achieved a record order intake “across 34 countries on five continents, which bodes well for continued high activity levels in 2016”.

Suffolk-based renewables developer Mosscliff Environmental has been placed into liquidation.

Having gone into administration in mid-December, the company was liquidated by Milton Keynes-based administrators Opus Restructuring on 25 January.

Opus’ case officer Kyle Ashford said it would “wrap up the liquidation of assets in the coming months. Information regarding the assets has been filed with Companies House to be made publicly available”.

The company was founded in 2006 by former director David Wylie. At its peak, the company employed around 100 staff, including around 15 at its Exeter office.

Both offices at Exeter and Denham have closed.

Mosscliff company, which developed wind, solar PV and biomass, had formed last July a tidal power venture, MT Tidal, with Dutch tidal turbine manufacturer Tocardo, but sources said the company had overreached itself and that recent changes to UK renewables policies had been the final nail in the coffin :

“They overstretched themselves with acquisitions and developments and they couldn’t pay their bills”, according to the source.

Offshore wind has propelled Danish energy company Dong to a record breaking operating profit in 2015 of £1.8billion (€2.35bn) as the company, which posted its results today (Thursday), signalled its intention to shift its focus from oil and gas to renewable.

The Danish company said the result “can mainly be attributed to higher production from offshore wind, higher levels of activity in connection with the construction of offshore wind farms for co-investors, the completed renegotiation of an oil-indexed gas purchase contract and lower costs in oil and gas”.

Operating profit in the wind business was up by 2% to Dkr6.2bn*, although once divestment gains in 2014 are accounted the underlying profit growth was “significantly higher”. Revenues in wind were up 70%.

Dong posted a net loss of Dkr12bn, compared with a loss of Dkr5.3bn in 2014. This included impairment losses of Dkr15.8bn in connection with the company’s oil and gas business.

Dong chief executive Henrik Poulsen commented the figures:

“Towards 2020 we expect offshore wind and bioenergy to account for more than 80% of investments. The investment strategy will further reinforce Dong Energy’s position as a global leader in renewables and expand our strongholds in offshore wind, bioenergy, and green distribution and customer solutions.”

Gross investments for 2016 are expected to be up to Dkr23bn for the company, compared to Dkr18.7bn last year.

*1.00 DKK = 0.133980 EUR (rate on Thursday, 4 of February, 2016)

Impax Asset Management has sold 206MW of French and German onshore wind to ERG Renew, renewable energy subsidiary of the Italian multi-energy company ERG Group. However, the terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The London-based investor announced on Wednesday that the move is part of its plans to sell off assets acquired between 2010 and 2014. The majority of the wind farms sold were constructed under the ownership of the fund.

ERG Renew has acquired 11 wind farms in France with an installed capacity of 124MW and six in Germany totalling 82MW as part of the deal.

The sale also includes two companies that give operational and commercial technical assistance to “captive” and third-party wind power operators in France, Germany and Poland.

Impax managing director Daniel von Preyss said on the deal:

“We are pleased to complete this sale which is a significant part of our current disposal programme of the fund. The sale of this portfolio is the result of our three year roll-up and construction process.”

The fund still owns a French wind project development business which it aims to grow in size through construction and acquisitions in the coming years.

The company’s wind assets performed strongly with net sales increasing from SEK 5.2 billion (€558 million) in 2014 to SEK 6.7 billion (718 million) last year. The Swedish outfit’s annual report revealed a jump in annual wind generation to 5.8TWh from 4.1TWh in 2014.

Underlying operating profit before depreciation, amortisation and impairment losses (EBITDA) increased 22.5% to SEK 4.6 billion (€491m).

The company said it would spend almost Skr14bn on wind in 2016-17 (€1.5bn) as it looks to reach a 2.3GW renewables target by 2020. The annual report shows it spent Skr8.6bn during 2015 in the sector.

Chief executive Magnus Hall said:

“The ongoing change of our energy system is dramatic, but also very exciting, and is giving rise to entirely new business opportunities for Vattenfall.”

The overall Vattenfall business recorded a Skr19.8bn (€2.1bn) loss for last year, according to the accounts, blaming low electricity prices and impairment costs largely from nuclear.

Renewables investor Impax Asset Management has sold its 51% stake in the 24.2MW Ballycadden wind farm in Wexford to the Toronto-based Greystone Infrastructure Fund.

In a deal announced this morning, Greystone, one of Canada’s largest institutional money managers, will join a group of minority shareholders on the project. However, the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Commissioned in 2013, a mix of 2.3MW and 3MW Enercon E-82 machines are spinning on the 9-turbine Wexford site.
The acquisition by Greystone is its first renewables investment in Europe with the company aiming to expand its interest across the continent.

Jeff Mouland, Head of the Greystone Infrastructure Fund commented this decision :

“We are very pleased to be adding this investment to our infrastructure portfolio and are actively pursuing other high quality assets in Ireland and across Europe on behalf of our investors.”

“Impax is currently constructing a number of projects in Ireland and remains committed to developing and building out its project pipeline throughout the period to 2020 and beyond”, said director of Impax Ryan Cameron.

Atlantis and ScottishPower Renewables (UK) Limited (SPR) are teaming up to develop a joint portfolio of projects for the fast growing tidal sector, Atlantis announced yesterday (Tuesday).

Atlantis’s Scottish project development vehicle, Tidal Power Scotland Limited (TPSL), will acquire SPR’s portfolio of tidal projects in exchange for a 6% shareholding in TPSL for SPR. As a shareholder, SPR will have a representative on the TPSL board, ensuring that the enlarged portfolio can benefit from its experience in renewable energy development and operations, and demonstrating commitment to the future of tidal power in the UK.

The SPR tidal power portfolio consists of two sites, a 10MW project at the Sound of Islay in western Scotland and a 100MW development at the Ness of Duncansby at Scotland’s north eastern tip. The projects will sit alongside the flagship 398MW MeyGen project, which is 85% owned by TPSL.

The project assets include agreements for lease with The Crown Estate for both sites, and the Sound of Islay site also has a grid connection offer and construction consents from the Scottish Ministers. The Sound of Islay project has been awarded €20.7 million of grant funding from the European Commission’s NER300 fund by way of capital and revenue support. With consents, grid connection and grants secured, this project is the most advanced commercial scale project in the UK after MeyGen, and is expected to achieve financial close in 2016.

Following completion of the acquisition of Marine Current Turbines Limited from Siemens AG in an all share deal earlier this year, the Atlantis group has agreements for lease for two further Scottish tidal sites, at the Mull of Galloway in south-west Scotland and Brough Ness, to the north of the MeyGen and Ness of Duncansby sites in the Pentland Firth. Atlantis is in the process of adding these two projects, with a combined capacity of 130MW, to the TPSL portfolio.

Atlantis, through TPSL, is the driving force behind the growing tidal sector in the UK. TPSL has the largest tidal stream portfolio in the UK, which is at the forefront of this burgeoning industry. The benefits of the increased scale of development in the expanded portfolio are expected to extend to a stronger supply chain in Scotland and the UK as a whole, attracting inward investment and diversifying exposure to the traditional offshore sector.

French energy giant Schneider Electric has cancelled the complex £1.3bn intended deal (€1.8bn), which involved the acquisition of UK-based engineering software provider Aveva Group.

The French firm had announced about the possible takeover in July, which would have entitled it to own a controlling 53.5% stake in Aveva for an investment of £550m (€761m), but Aveva has cited unanticipated costs and risks related to the proposed merger for termination of the deal. The company explained :

“During the due diligence process significant integration challenges were identified that could not be overcome without considerable additional risk and cost. This was exacerbated by the highly complex structure of the proposed transaction.”

The complex deal would have involved Aveva acquiring Schneider’s industrial software unit — Schneider Software — but the French company would in turn have taken a majority stake in Aveva. The two companies had previously said there was a “clear and compelling industrial logic and strategic rationale” for the tie-up.

Neither company will have to pay a break fee as the terms of the transaction were non-binding.

Schneider Electric said: “The two parties have decided to stop their discussions by mutual consent as no agreement could be reached on the terms of transaction.”

The firms had previously termed the tie-up to be based on a “clear and compelling industrial logic and strategic rationale.”

Aveva chief executive Richard Longdon was quoted by the Financial Times as saying:

“The sad thing is the industrial logic was always good and still is. But they say that time kills deals. Too much time had gone on.”

Infrastructure investor Natixis and insurance outfit Swiss Life have signed an debt cooperation agreement with €300m already committed and an offshore wind project ready to roll.

The partners said the wider deal will “benefit from the expertise of Swiss Life Asset Managers and Natixis in this asset class”.

They added initial co-finance of the unnamed offshore wind project “has already been set up”, and that this partnership will “enable Natixis to further expand its infrastructure debt platform, and hence bolster its infrastructure financing capacities in Europe, serving its clients”.

Natixis is the international corporate, investment, insurance and financial services arm of Groupe BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France. Swiss Life has been involved in insurance for 150 years.

Irish renewables group NTR has booked a €72.6 million profit for the first half of its 2016 financial year.

In a statement this morning, the company says the gain – which is up €67.2 million from the same period a year earlier – is down to the sale of its US wind farms completed earlier in the year.

According to the half yearly results, shareholders’ funds increase almost 30% to €226.6 million with assets including cash and European wind projects at €280.8 million. The company’s cash reserves stand at €177.1 million.

The Dublin-based outfit has also confirmed that it will press ahead with a demerger today, which will see its European wind business become a new company that will retain the name NTR, while legacy assets of the type on which the company was built as a toll roads business will be part of a new company called Altas Investments.

Over the last six months NTR has acquired 42MW of construction-ready onshore wind projects across Ireland and the UK. A further 23MW in acquisitions are due to be announced.