German energy major Uniper SE (ETR:UN01) intends to spend more than EUR 8 billion (USD 8.77bn) through 2030 to transform itself into a greener company, it announced today, whilst reporting “exceptionally strong first-half” financial results.
Duesseldorf-based Uniper said in a statement that its focus areas for the years to come will be: Customers, Green and Flexible Power, Greener Gases, and Optimisation. Its faster-than-previously-planned green transformation will involve investments in solar and wind farms, with the goal of having an installed generating capacity that is 80% zero-carbon by 2030.
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The above-mentioned investment amount is triple the average sum the company has been spending annually over the past three years, Uniper noted.
The company hopes to end coal-fired power generation by 2029 at the latest and to achieve group-wide carbon neutrality for its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2035. The self-imposed deadline for Scope 3 emissions is 2040.
In order to decarbonise its gas business, Uniper plans to rely on the use of green gases like hydrogen. Its objective is for 5% to 10% of its portfolio to consist of green gases by 2030.
“We have green power, but also flexible, dispatchable power. You can’t have one without the other if you want security of supply. That’s why Uniper will expand both. Industry will continue to need an uninterrupted supply of gas, but with an increasing proportion of green gas,” said CEO Michael Lewis.
For the first half of 2023, Uniper posted adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of EUR 3.7 billion against a loss of EUR 757 million in the same period of the “crisis year” 2022. The company turned to an adjusted net profit of EUR 2.49 billion from a loss of EUR 490 million.
“These very good numbers are the result of a strong operating performance in a favorable market environment. Nevertheless, it’s important to me to point out that our earnings are largely based on extraordinary effects and are unlikely to be repeated to this extent in the years ahead. In view of the recent price declines on commodity markets, Uniper’s earnings situation will normalise going forward,” CFO Jutta Doenges stated.
The significantly improved performance in the first half has allowed the company to upgrade its 2023 outlook and it now expects full-year adjusted EBIT and adjusted net profit in the middle single-digit billion range.
(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.097)
