RWE wants to invest five billion euros in renewables.
(Photo: imago images / Jochen Tack)
Dusseldorf A week ago, the energy company RWE adjusted its forecast upwards by 1.5 billion euros. Now it’s clear why: In the first half of the year alone, the Essen-based company was able to increase its profit (adjusted EBIT) by over a billion to 2.8 billion euros.
The “Water, Biomass, Gas” business area is particularly contributing to this, with Ebitda more than doubling compared to the previous year – from EUR 297 million to EUR 755 million. “In the first half of 2022, we significantly increased our earnings,” said CEO Markus Krebber in a statement on Thursday.
The prices for electricity, gas and other energy sources have been rising massively for months. As a result, RWE’s profits from energy trading are increasing, especially with fossil fuels. Trading in electricity, gas and coal had already given the company its best result in years in 2021.
In the past few weeks, due to the record prices for electricity, oil and gas, calls for an excess profit tax have been heard again and again on the consumer side. Because the profits at RWE and other energy companies are increasing: The war between Russia and Ukraine had increased the already high energy prices significantly since the end of February.
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Because this in turn endangers systemically important companies such as the gas trader Uniper, the federal government has agreed to introduce a gas surcharge from October to absorb the additional costs of the record gas prices. As a result, consumers are faced with significantly higher gas prices – in the worst case, this can mean more than a thousand euros per year for a family of four.
>> Read about this: Stadtwerke are massively increasing gas tariffs: “There is a bigger price wave” – further increases are imminent
Other member states in the European Union have now introduced a special tax on so-called excess profits in times of crisis to relieve the population. In Germany, however, the discussion does not seem to have any consequences for the time being.
Wind power creates profits
Meanwhile, the high electricity prices in trading are also causing a decent increase in profits at RWE in the business with renewables. The Triton Knoll mega-offshore wind farm in the North Sea is now up and running – and favorable wind conditions have boosted profits in the offshore wind division by almost EUR 200 million.
And without a cold snap in the US state of Texas, the “onshore wind” division is also making profits again: in the first six months of the year it was around 491 million euros. For comparison: A year earlier, RWE had to record a minus of 42 million.
In the first half of the year, RWE invested around two billion euros in the expansion of renewables, and investments are expected to increase to five billion euros by the end of the year. The production of electricity from green energies increased by 20 percent compared to the previous year.
The group can fall back on bulging coffers. At the end of June, net assets were 1.9 billion euros after 360 million at the end of 2021. At group level, RWE expects adjusted operating income (Ebitda) of 5 to 5.5 billion euros in 2022 instead of the previous 3.6 to four billion euros.
More: Gas undesirable: change of strategy at RWE, Eon and EnBW
