In the past financial year aventron developed successfully and increased earnings to CHF 16,9 million. To finance the further development aventron proposes to the general assembly a capital increase of maximum CHF 60 million at an issue price of CHF 11.50 per share.

In the past financial year revenues grew by 16% to CHF 120,2 (previous year 103,7) million. The further expansion of the power plant portfolio and the increased electricity prices contributed to this growth. aventron increased EBIT disproportionately by 18% to CHF 37,2 (PY 31,5) million. The particular market circumstances led to a net income of CHF 16,9 (PY 12,7) million. The earnings per share (eps) grew to CHF 0.35 per share. By the end of 2021 the portfolio consisted of 682 (PY 604) MW installed capacity. The wind segment delivered 49% of the revenues. 32% stemmed from the solar PV segment and 19% from the hydro segment.

Proposed dividend 12% higher

aventron would like its shareholders to participate in these positive results. The Board of Directors thus proposes to the General Meeting to increase the dividend by 11,5% to CHF 0.29 (PY 0.26) per share. The Annual General Meeting of aventron AG will take place on 21 April 2022.

In 2021 aventron invested CHF 36,5 million in the acquisition of existing power plants and in the construction of its own generating capacity. The balance sheet per year end amounts to CHF 862,0 (PY 758,1) million. By the end of 2021 the aventron group held liquid assets totaling CHF 104,7 (PY 75,8) million.

Additional capital increase is planned

At the Annual General Assembly 2022 aventron will seek approval for an additional capital increase consisting of a volume of up to 5,2 million shares. This corresponds to an increase in equity of up to CHF 60 million. The registered shares will be issued at an issue price of CHF 11.50 per share. The planned capital increase is intended to generate additional funds for investments in a diversified portfolio in all the countries in which aventron is active. The intermediate target is to reach a portfolio size of 750 MW by 2023.

aventron achieves important milestone in its storage strategy with the acquisition of a 5 MW battery in Germany.

Storing electricity from wind and solar power plants for days or weeks is an essential complement to renewable electricity production. It enables volatility to be balanced and generation and load to be aligned. aventron aims to steadily increase its available electricity storage volume. In doing so, aventron is focusing mainly on opportunities to raise dams at the intake of its small hydro power plants and using large batteries at its wind and solar power plants.

With regard to electricity storage, a first important project was completed last year with the raising of the dam at the Kvannvatn small hydro power plant in Mo I Rana, Norway. The raising of the dam by 3 m increased the storage volume by the equivalent of 1,195 MWh. With the acquisition of the Wölkisch large-scale battery, aventron is now also entering the field of large-scale battery storage.

The Wölkisch battery has a peak output of 4.8 MW and a storage volume of 5 MWh. The battery is connected to the substation of the Wölkisch wind farm in Saxony. The aventron wind power plant Wölkisch with 12.3 MW installed capacity also feeds into this substation. The Wölkisch battery will initially be used for balancing power, i.e. as a reserve to compensate for fluctuations in the electricity grid.

aventron is likely to implement further utility-scale batteries in the future. It is to be expected that, above all, large capacity ground-mounted solar power plants in Spain and Italy will be equipped with their own battery storage systems. This will make it possible to shift the excess energy produced during the day by a few hours into the evening.