DGAP-News: ABO Wind AG: Moving into new dimensions

Moving into new dimensions

- Good annual result achieved in 2021 and positive outlook for 2022

- Pipeline of projects under development grows to 19 gigawatts

- Milestones achieved in Germany, Finland, Spain, Poland, and Northern Ireland

The financial result of ABO Wind AG for 2021 is at the upper end of the forecast range. The group net profit published in the annual report today amounts to 13.8 million euros. With this, the international developer of renewable energy projects has exceeded the previous year's result by five percent. The company is also well on track for the current year and expects a result at least at the level of 2021. At the Annual General Meeting on 28 April, the Managing Board and Supervisory Board will propose an increased dividend of 49 cents (previous year: 45 cents). The documents for the Annual General Meeting (only in German) have already been published.

ABO Wind generated revenues totalling 127.1 million euros (previous year: 149.2 million euros) in twelve countries in 2021. The contribution of the German market has grown to half of the revenue. ABO Wind also generated seven-figure revenues in France, Finland, Spain, Greece, Canada, Hungary, and Argentina. Total output from revenues and changes in inventories reached a new high of 187.5 million euros in 2021 (previous year: 169.4 million euros). The figure reflects the fact that ABO Wind has increased investments in the pipeline of projects under development.

"Price increases and delivery delays continue to pose challenges for us," says Managing Director Dr Karsten Schlageter. "But we expect to keep the impact on our business well under control. However, uncertainty has grown due to the war in Ukraine." Although ABO Wind is not active in Russia nor in Ukraine, increasing bottlenecks in raw materials could raise pressure on supply chains. In the medium and long term, however, the prospects for renewable energies worldwide are better than ever. Once again, the humanitarian catastrophe on the eastern edge of Europe emphasizes the urgency to abandon the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible. "We need to reduce CO2 emissions to limit climate change, and we need to become independent from fossil fuels to secure the peace," says Dr Schlageter. For ABO Wind, this realisation is not news: the use of renewable energies has been at the core of the company's business model since it was founded 26 years ago. But this understanding is finally becoming common knowledge in many countries around the world.

In response to the war in Ukraine, the European Union, for example, is now working to speed up the approval process for renewable energy projects in its 27 member states. In many of these countries, ABO Wind is currently working on the development of wind and solar farms with a total capacity of twelve gigawatts. An acceleration of approvals would positively impact the business development. Overall, the pipeline of projects under development has grown to around 19 gigawatts. The company's now almost 1,000 employees are also working on the development of wind and solar farms outside Europe, especially in Africa, Latin America, and Canada.

The large number of projects under development as well as the company's financial resources enable ABO Wind to make a significant contribution to the accelerated development of a sustainable renewable energy supply. Equity has grown to almost 150 million euros. In addition, equity-like funds from profit participation rights and a subordinated bond amount to around 54 million euros. Also, the available debt capital has grown. For example, ABO Wind is currently using the financial flexibility to speed-up implementation of the largest turnkey wind energy project in Finland to date (86 megawatts). Commissioning of Pajuperänkangas wind farm is scheduled for 2023. Even before the conclusion of project financing, ABO Wind has already made a down payment for the wind turbine, thereby securing the delivery next year. "With this, we have moved into new dimensions. We also want to start the turnkey realisation of large projects in Spain soon," says Managing Director Dr Schlageter.

ABO Wind is currently achieving several significant milestones. In Finland, the company built a first wind farm with a capacity of more than 100 megawatts as a service provider in 2021. In Spain, the second wind farm of the same size is about to be commissioned. Here, too, ABO Wind is in charge of EPC Management. In Poland, the turnkey construction of a first wind farm (Donaborow, 20 megawatts) is currently underway. A large battery storage facility in Kells, Northern Ireland (50 megawatts), which ABO Wind will commission by mid-2022, is another first. Six hybrid power plants with a total of 28 megawatts currently under construction in Germany are just as promising for the further development of the business model. Each of these projects is a combination of a solar farm with a battery. For these projects, ABO Wind has secured remuneration from so-called innovation tenders of the Renewable Energy Sources Act. The company is one of the German market leaders in this segment. Another remarkable project is the combination of a wind farm and a solar farm with a joint grid connection, which ABO Wind built in the Hunsrück region (Germany) in 2021/2022.

"Our great electrical engineering expertise allows us to lead the way with innovative concepts in many countries," says Dr Schlageter. Feeding wind and solar energy into the same connection point can help to bring more renewable electricity into the grid as fast as possible. In Spain, for example, the electricity grid is already heavily burdened in many regions. "We will contribute to this goal in many countries in the next few years," says the Managing Director with conviction. ABO Wind is also securing suitable sites in large territories in Finland, South Africa, Argentina, or Canada for green hydrogen production to help decarbonise mobility and industrial production and make them independent from fossil fuels. "In view of the many good business opportunities, we remain confident that we will regularly achieve annual net profits of more than 20 million euros from 2024 onwards," says Dr Schlageter.