The normalised net profit of Eesti Energia in Q2 was 51 million euros, which is 52% more than in the second quarter of last year. The Group’s sales revenue reached 416 euros, of which 63% was earned outside Estonia. Investments, which mostly went to increasing affordable and eco-friendly electricity production, increased nearly twofold compared to the same period last year to 181 million euros.

‘For several quarters in a row, our investments have been primarily focused on growing the Group’s share of renewable energy,’ said Marlen Tamm, CFO of Eesti Energia. ‘This is the only way we can guarantee our customers affordable and eco-friendly electricity. The low electricity prices of Q2 were clearly related to renewable electricity production, and in order to increase it, we invested 74 million euros (+86%) in renewable energy development projects through Enefit Green in the second quarter.’

In order to stabilise the increasing renewable energy production, Energia announced a call for tenders in Q2 to launch the Group’s first large-scale energy storage device pilot project. ‘Sufficient storage capacity helps ensure affordable electricity prices, the reliability of the energy system and a more efficient use of renewable energy,’ Tamm explained. According to her, the planned storage device can store the output of nearly 2,500 domestic solar farms in two hours and use it during more expensive evening hours.

In the second quarter, the Group also invested 44 million euros (+78%) in the development of the grid and 46 million euros (+82%) in other development projects, including 32.1 million euros in the development of the chemical industry.

Nearly half of electricity was produced from renewable sources

Due to low market prices the Group’s electricity production decreased by 50% in Q2 to 706 GWh. As a result, the share of renewable energy in the Group’s total electricity production increased to 46%. The Group’s six-month electricity production decreased by 35%, from 3.1 TWh in 2022 to 2.0 TWh in 2023. The share of renewable energy in the six-month production accounted for 43%, which is nearly 20 percentage points more than a year earlier.

Of the operated power plants, the Auvere Power Plant had the best access to the market due to its low production price. The power plant showed very good reliability in the first half of the year, producing 0.7 TWh of electricity in six months, which is 27% of the total electricity production of Estonia. Furthermore, Enefit Power produced around 40% of the electricity produced in Auvere using alternative energy sources, such as retort gas and waste wood. Using such fuels significantly reduces carbon emissions, which in turn reduces electricity production costs and makes it possible to supply electricity to the market at a more affordable price.

The sales revenue of Eesti Energia in Q2 remained at the same level as in Q2 of last year, amounting to 416.1 million euros (–0.1%). More than half of it (63%) was still made outside Estonia, ie in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and other markets. The largest increase in sales revenue was in Poland (44%).

The sales volume of liquid fuels increased by 18% in Q2, amounting to 124.7 thousand tonnes. The Enefit 280 plant produced more than 25,000 tonnes of liquid fuels this June, which is an all-time record of the plant. In the future, the Group plans to utilise post-processing of liquid fuels to produce the necessary raw materials for the chemical industry to replace petrochemicals.

Normalised EBITDA, ie pre-depreciation operating profit, of Q2 was 115.7 million euros, which is 45% more than in the same period last year. The Group’s normalised net profit in Q2 was 50.6 million euros, which is 52% more than last year.

In Q2 of 2023, Eesti Energia contributed more than 86 million euros in taxes and environmental charges. Of that amount, 22.6 million consisted of various direct taxes and 63.7 million euros of CO2 emission costs at market price.

\*Normalized performance that does not include revaluation of derivatives

\*Normalized performance that does not include revaluation of derivatives