BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE PARTNERS L.P.
'We had another successful quarter, utilizing our disciplined approach to growth and execution to outperform our targets and deliver strong operating results. We recently closed our acquisitions of X-Elio and Deriva Energy (formerly
Key highlights: We were successful in our growth activities this quarter, signing transactions for
Advanced key commercial priorities this quarter including signing contracts to deliver an incremental 5,700 gigawatt hours per year of generation, including 4,100 gigawatt hours to corporate offtakers where we continue to see accelerating demand and Continued to execute our asset recycling activities where we are seeing strong demand for de-risked assets, generating
Our returns remain robust
The renewables sector traded down in the public markets on the back of higher interest rates and a perceived tightening of industry margins. Even though we are well positioned to benefit in this environment, and insulated from the challenges that are seemingly impacting others in our sector, we have not been immune to the lower market prices. And while we are never pleased when our share price is down, we are long-term focused investors and we believe the outlook for our business is better than ever. As we continue to deliver on our growth targets and execute on our strategic priorities, our share price should respond and better reflect the intrinsic value of the business.
Most importantly, we are not seeing a reduction in the return we are able to generate on our capital. In fact, quite the opposite, we are seeing plentiful opportunities to deploy capital at or above our target returns, as demand for clean power from corporations continues to accelerate. This opportunity is more pronounced in the current market where access to capital is becoming increasingly scarce for some market participants - creating a favorable environment for those such as ourselves, with the capital, capabilities, and pipeline of projects to deliver for our clients. Notably, there are particularly attractive opportunities to acquire high quality businesses with strong pipelines but lack the access to capital or scale operating capabilities to build out the projects.
In this environment, our ongoing approach to M&A is particularly effective. We are leveraging our existing capabilities and development pipeline to capture the growing demand, while at the same time using our access to capital to add leading platforms in core markets around the world. These additions further enhance our capabilities and position us as the clean energy and decarbonization partner of choice for leading corporations. And by consistently enhancing our business, we expect to be even more well positioned to capture a greater portion of the market demand in the future. It is a powerful and virtuous cycle.
Over the last five years, the amount of clean energy procured annually by corporates has increased almost 10 times and, looking forward, we do not expect this trend to slow down. Access to energy is now the key constraint for a number of these businesses which acquire large amounts of power, including leading global technology companies, to execute their growth plans.
As one of the only scale multi-technology global clean energy businesses in the world with an almost 150,000 megawatt development pipeline, we are uniquely positioned to benefit. With our extensive energy marketing and operational capabilities, our ability to offer 24/7 clean power solutions from our technologically diversified fleet, and our ability to credibly deliver scale projects on time across all key global markets, we have become a go-to partner providing bespoke solutions to meet the needs of the largest procurers of clean energy globally.
As a result, we continue to see a very robust market to contract our capacity and have been successful in signing contracts at prices that appropriately compensate us for higher construction and financing costs. As an example, by leveraging our development pipeline, our existing hydro facilities, and our power marketing capabilities, we recently signed an agreement with one of the leading global tech companies to provide them with a total of 18 terawatt hours (equal to the annual electricity consumption of almost 2 million homes in the
Our approach to development continues to be focused on delivering appropriate risk-adjusted returns and focusing on investment opportunities that we can de-risk quickly. We do not build on spec and reduce risk in our investments by simultaneously securing power purchase agreements, construction contracts and financing before committing significant capital. We limit construction risk by using a localized approach to construction and development and manage our investment spend by leveraging our central procurement capabilities. Lastly, we leverage our commercial teams to source the highest quality offtakes and focus on the most mature and lowest cost renewable power technologies (solar and onshore wind) in the highest growth regions to ensure our projects produce the most de-risked high quality cash flows. This approach has served us well for decades and allows us to deliver consistent performance in all market conditions.
We are also crystalizing and proving out our returns through our asset recycling initiatives. In the current environment, we continue to see strong demand for de-risked assets with long-term contracts and fixed rate financing in place. As an example, we recently agreed to the sale of a 150-megawatt solar facility in
We are set to benefit from the closing of a number of highly accretive M&A transactions
We are making good progress closing our previously announced acquisitions. We recently closed the acquisition of 50% of X-Elio, our leading global solar developer, bringing our ownership interest in that business to 100%. We also closed the acquisition of Deriva Energy, one of the largest renewable platforms in the
We continued to advance the regulatory approval process for our acquisition of
We are also seeing an increasing number of opportunities to acquire scale portfolios and platforms, given the recent move in public market valuations, combined with the increasing need for capital across the sector. This environment plays to our strengths as we can invest at attractive risk-adjusted returns when others are pulling back.
Recently we agreed to acquire Banks Renewables for
In total, over the coming months we expect to have closed transactions totaling
In light of public market conditions and our strong conviction in the intrinsic value of our business and growth trajectory, we have also started to allocate capital to repurchase shares. Starting this quarter, we repurchased almost 1.5 million units under our normal course issuer bid. Looking forward, we will continue to allocate capital based on where we are seeing the best risk-adjusted returns and remain confident that we will continue to create meaningful value for our investors.
Operating Results
We generated FFO of
Our business is backed by high-quality cash flows, in large part from our perpetual hydro portfolio which generates dispatchable, clean, baseload power that has become increasingly valuable in today's environment. We are also well positioned to benefit from the increased demand for reliable, carbon-free generation with significant capacity available for re-contracting over the next five years in a very positive environment for prices of electricity. We expect to be able to execute new contracts which will contribute additional FFO and allow us to up-finance many of the assets due to their low levels of debt.
Our hydroelectric segment delivered FFO of
Our wind and solar segments generated a combined
Our renewable power development pipeline stands at almost 150,000 megawatts, nearly one and half times larger than it was at this time last year. We also continue to be successful starting development on projects earlier than had been planned and scaling our development to meet growing demand for clean power. We have approximately 5,000 megawatts on track for commissioning this year, and 7,000 and 8,000 megawatts on track for delivery in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Much of the capital for these projects is already invested, and we will see the returns on that capital when the projects begin producing cash upon commissioning. We expect newly commissioned capacity this year to contribute approximately
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
Our financial position remains excellent, and our available liquidity is robust, providing significant flexibility to fund our growth. We are resilient to rising global interest rates, with 90% of our borrowings being project level non-recourse debt, with an average remaining term of over 10 years, no material near-term maturities in the next five years, and only 3% exposure to floating rate debt.
Despite market volatility, we continue to have access to deep and varied pools of capital, differentiating our business. We finished the quarter with
Distribution Declaration
The next quarterly distribution in the amount of
The quarterly dividends on BEP's preferred shares and preferred LP units have also been declared.
Distribution Currency Option
The quarterly distributions payable on the BEP units and BEPC shares are declared in
Registered unitholders who are residents in
Distribution Reinvestment Plan
Additional information on Brookfield Renewable's distributions and preferred share dividends can be found on our website at www.bep.brookfield.com.
Brookfield Renewable
Brookfield Renewable operates one of the world's largest publicly traded, pure-play renewable power platforms. Our portfolio consists of hydroelectric, wind, utility-scale solar and storage facilities in
Brookfield Renewable is the flagship listed renewable power company of
Contact:
Managing Director
Tel: +44 (0)7398 909 278
Email: simon.maine@brookfield.com
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