Yorkshire windfarm owner sees generation come in ‘under budget’ despite producing power for 2m homes
Greencoat UK Wind, the owner of multiple Yorkshire wind farms, has announced that its power generation came in 13 per cent below budget last year, despite the company generating enough electricity to power two million homes.
The company, which owns or part-owns three windfarms in Yorkshire, said that issues including low wind had led its portfolio generation to come in at 5,484 gigawatt hours, 13 per cent below its annual budget.
This meant that the company’s net asset value – the total value of its assets minus the company’s liabilities – was lowered almost eight per cent from 164.1p per share last year to 151.2p per share this year.
Greencoat UK Wind said that during the year, it had generated approximately two per cent of the UK’s electricity demand, and avoided CO2 emissions of approximately 2.2 million tonnes through the displacement of thermal generation.
Commenting on the company’s results, Lucinda Riches, chairman of Greencoat UK Wind, said: "The board and the Investment Manager recognise that this has been a challenging year for investors, but have been working hard to drive shareholder value through proactive actions and continued active asset management.
“Despite lower portfolio generation for the year, cash generation has remained strong at £279m.
"Over the next five years we expect to generate over £1bn in excess cashflow, and additional capital should be available through further opportunistic disposals, providing optionality for capital allocation and shareholder returns.”
The news comes as Greencoat UK Wind also announced a £100m share buyback programme.
This comes after the company completed a previous £100m share buyback programme earlier this month.
The firm added that the purpose of the programme was to reduce its issued share capital, adding that the ordinary shares purchased by the company will be held in treasury or re-issued.
Greencoat UK Wind part-owns the Sixpenny Wood wind farm, in East Yorkshire, as well as holding 38 per cent interest in the Humber Gateway wind farm, five miles off the Yorkshire coast.
The firm also owns a small percentage of the Hornsea 1 wind farm, located 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast.
Speaking on last year’s change of Government, statement from the firm added: “In July we saw the election of a government that is committed to delivering a net zero electricity grid by 2030, which requires the sector to grow two to threefold over the next decade.
“As the leading financial owner of operational UK wind farms, we are well positioned to be a part of this transformation.”