Dive Brief:
- NextEra Energy Partners is seeking to boost its solar holdings, and said in a second quarter earnings presentation that it plans to add between 269 MW and 1,169 MW to its holdings in the 2017-2018 timeframe, PV Magazine reports.
- That could give the company a solar portfolio of 1.3 GW and overall renewable capacity of between 2.8 GW and 5.4 GW.
- The company has seen strong contributions from its recent acquisitions, and NextEra said it anticipates 12% to 15% annual growth in limited partner distributions through 2020.
Dive Insight:
NextEra Energy Partners, the yieldco of NextEra Energy, has revealed plans to significantly bolster its solar holdings and its renewable portfolio overall. In the next two years, the company expects to add between 2.2 GW and 4.8 GW of wind and solar in Canada and the United States. The news comes after its parent company NextEra terminated its $4.3 billion deal to acquire Hawaiian Electric Co. after regulators rejected the proposal over worries the utility wasn't committed enough to the state's renewables goals.
The plans are included in a presentation the company give alongside its Q2 earnings report. NEP reported second-quarter 2016 net income attributable to NextEra Energy Partners of $8 million, as well as second-quarter 2016 adjusted EBITDA of $156 million.
Cash available for distribution before debt service payments was $120 million and after debt service payments was $65 million.
"NextEra Energy Partners' 40 percent growth in distributions per unit from the prior-year comparable period reflects strong contributions from acquisitions, as well as excellent operating performance," Chairman and CEO Jim Robo said in the earnings release. "We continue to execute on the partnership's growth plan and recently completed the acquisition of approximately 285 megawatts of wind generation from our sponsor, NextEra Energy Resources."
Included in the acquisition were fully-contracted wind facilities under long-term power purchase contracts with "strong creditworthy counterparties and remaining contract lives of approximately 20 years," the company said. Cedar Bluff Wind Energy Center in Kansas is rated at 199 MW, and Golden Hills Wind Energy Center in California at approximately 86 W facility located in California.
Robo also said the company is "on target to achieve our growth expectations." The company is on track to deliver approximately 2.5 GW of new contracted renewables projects in 2016.