Scottish Power parent Iberdrola’s 13 per cent surge in group profits to £2.89 billion (€3.4 billion) last year reflects its two decades of steady renewables investment, according to CEO Ignacio Galán.
Galán said its push into clean generation puts Iberdrola “20 years ahead of the current energy transition.”
The group’s full 2019 results reveal a record 2.8GW of new green generation capacity, including East Anglia One’s first turbines commissioned last year. A further 9GW is under construction worldwide.
Iberdrola’s UK activities posted a net profit of £347 million, up 5 per cent on 2018. Higher wholesale prices pushed gross earnings at Scottish Power similarly up to £579 million. The subsidiary’s 2.5GW of installed capacity, predominantly onshore wind, is receiving continued investment, said the group.
But Scottish Power suffered in the retail market, with supply accounts falling to 2.8 million. A shrinkage of its customer base, plus a warmer winter, also saw volume sales of electricity drop 3 per cent compared to 2018.
UK performance was strongest in Scottish Power’s Energy Networks unit. Its gross margin rose 7 per cent to £1.12 billion.
The unit was hit though by persistent faults in its Western Link cable to north Wales, now the subject of an Ofgem investigation. Output from onshore generation in the Highlands dropped 2.8 per cent on 2018, says Scottish Power’s parent.
Analysts Cornwall Insight this week estimated that prolonged outages from Scottish Power’s Western HVDC triggered £ 31 million in curtailment payments in January alone.