ABO Energy strengthens basis for profit growth

ABO Energy strengthens basis for profit growth

With a net profit of 25.6 million euros in the financial year 2024, the ABO Energy group has achieved the second-best result in the company’s history. Only in the previous financial year the result was even higher, with a net profit of 27.3 million euros. In view of a further strengthened pipeline comprising numerous wind, solar, and battery projects at an advanced stage, the Managing Board expects profits to increase significantly in the coming years. For the current financial year 2025, the forecast is in the range of 29 to 39 million euros. From 2027 onwards, the Managing Board expects annual surpluses of around 50 million euros, with a further upward trend.

Given the good result, the Managing Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting on 27 May an increase of the dividend to 0.65 euros per share (previous year: 0.60 euros). The parent company’s net profit for the year amounts to 25.9 million euros (previous year: 27 million euros) and is to be allocated for the most part to the revenue reserve, thus contributing to the further financing of growth.
The 2024 Annual Report (in German), like the Annual Reports from previous years, is available on the website: https://www.abo-wind.com/de/unternehmen/geschaeftsberichte.html. The English version of the annual report will be available at this link shortly: www.aboenergy.com/en/company/annual-reports.html. For the first time, ABO Energy is offering a live presentation of the Annual Report. Managing Directors Alexander Reinicke and Dr Karsten Schlageter will provide insights and outlooks and will answer questions. You can register for the digital event taking place on 1 April at 2 p.m. via this link: https://research-hub.de/events/registration/2025-04-01-14-00/AB9-GR

Significantly grown revenues

In 2024, revenues have grown significantly compared to the previous year – from 300 to 446 million euros. Twelve countries – one more than in the previous year – have contributed to the revenues in 2024 with more than 0.5 million euros each. At the same time, Germany’s share has grown significantly from 40 per cent to 62 per cent. 59 per cent of ABO Energy’s 2024 revenue came from construction services (previous year: 52 per cent). In absolute figures, revenue in this segment rose from 155 million euros (2023) to 264 million euros (2024). Revenues from planning and project rights sales also increased in absolute figures – from 127 million euros (2023) to 162 million euros (2024). Nevertheless, the percentage share of this segment fell from 43 to 36 per cent. A similar development can be seen in the service business. Here, ABO Energy generated 20 million euros in the financial year – two million euros more than in 2023. The share of revenue fell from six to four per cent.

„The previous government has resolved the bottleneck in approvals in our most important market, Germany, and boosted the wind energy market,“ says Managing Director Dr Karsten Schlageter. Across the country, wind energy projects with a total capacity of 14 gigawatts have been approved in 2024 – more than ever before. Compared to 2023, the volume of permits has doubled, and it has tripled since 2022. As a result of this favourable development, ABO Energy now owns a large portfolio of valuable, ready-to-build wind energy projects. The company has obtained permits for more than 300 megawatts of wind energy capacity in Germany in 2024, and has secured tariffs for around 200 megawatts. „The many advanced projects with excellent realisation prospects are the solid basis for our expectation of increasing profits,“ says Dr Schlageter.

The boom in renewable energies, particularly in Germany, is likely to strengthen the company’s profitability for many years to come. ABO Energy is not only able to draw on a full range of approved projects with secured tariffs: These projects will shape the company’s results over the next two to three years. The outlook for the following years is also positive, as good progress has been made in securing land for new projects. The newly acquired wind, solar, and battery storage projects will strengthen the result in the medium and long term.

Changed system in pipeline data collection

This assessment is supported by the company’s project pipeline, which has been steadily growing for years. The portfolio of projects currently under development includes around 32 gigawatts (excluding hydrogen) and is presented on the website, broken down by country and development phase: https://aboenergy.com/pipeline. Compared to the most recent publication six months ago, the pipeline has grown by 25 per cent. This is partly due to successes in securing land. It also reflects the fact that the data collection system has been changed. The reason for this is a subordinated bond issued in 2024. Its classification as a „green bond“ entails certain reporting requirements. ABO Energy uses the funds from the green bond exclusively for the development and construction of wind, solar, and battery projects and documents this. The green bond reporting includes all projects for which costs have been capitalised in the balance sheet. These projects have reached defined milestones and are assets according to commercial law. To ensure that the green bond reporting, which is due to be published for the first time in May 2025, is consistent with our general pipeline communication, ABO Energy will use the same system for the pipeline from now on. The previously applied safety discounts will be waived.

South Africa is an exception. For this country, only a quarter of the projects capitalised as „work-in-progress“ are shown in both the green bond reporting and the pipeline. This has to do with the conditions of project development and the size of South Africa. Without the discount, the pipeline there would comprise 22 gigawatts. That would be more than a third of the total portfolio and would distort the actual importance of South Africa for ABO Energy. It is difficult to predict in which regions grid access will be awarded via tenders in the future. Implementation options only exist for a smaller part of the pipeline. Therefore, ABO Energy has always only published a quarter of the South African pipeline. To continue to provide a realistic picture of the situation, this discount will remain in place.

While the pipeline has grown overall, for Spain it now includes fewer megawatts than before. This is due to the numerous sales of project rights achieved in previous years. As soon as the last milestone payment has been received, the projects are removed from the pipeline. This was among others the case for the Palencia portfolios (250 megawatts) in 2024.

In Germany in particular, the secured pipeline of 8.1 gigawatts is now significantly larger than it was in September 2024 (4.4 gigawatts). The new pipeline for Germany includes projects totalling 850 megawatts that are currently on hold due to planning or approval hurdles. As before, projects that have been fully written off or sold and are no longer expected to generate any income are removed from the pipeline. The pipeline does not include the numerous projects in the exploration phase.

International successes with storage and solar projects

Recently, there has been significant growth in activities in the storage segment. Four gigawatts of the total pipeline can now be assigned to battery storage. „We have established a good position for ourselves in this important growth market,“ emphasises Dr Schlageter. Wind energy projects account for 18.5 gigawatts of the pipeline, solar projects for 9.4 gigawatts.

In 2024, ABO Energy has also made remarkable progress on an international level. Particularly noteworthy is the record number of turnkey solar farms built in Hungary: In 2024, ABO Energy has commissioned five solar farms with a total capacity of 79 megawatts in Hungary. In addition, the company has sold project rights amounting to 250 megawatts at an early stage. Another milestone is the turnkey construction of the first two Colombian solar farms, each with a capacity of ten megawatts. „In previous years, we have already sold individual project rights in Colombia,“ says Managing Director Dr Schlageter. „With the first constructions, we have now significantly improved our market position and learned a lot. This gives us reason to be optimistic about the future.“

In South Africa, ABO Energy has achieved further successes and sold the project rights for two ready-to-build stand-alone battery storage systems, each with a power output of 77 megawatts (MW) and a corresponding capacity of 308 megawatt hours (MWh). Similar business successes had already been achieved in South Africa in previous years. „Due to limited grid access, revenues there are more difficult to calculate, but our earnings potential is nevertheless high,“ emphasises Dr Schlageter.

There are further good news from France, the second most important market for ABO Energy after Germany: three wind farms with a combined capacity of 25 megawatts were connected to the grid in 2024. Construction of another wind farm with a capacity of 18 megawatts is now starting. In addition, the solar business is developing dynamically. In 2024, ABO Energy has signed a private Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a medium-sized industrial company for the company’s largest fully developed French solar project to date (Les Essards, 21 megawatts) and has meanwhile sold the project. Another four French solar projects (70 megawatts) have successfully participated in tariff tenders in 2024. 

A new business segment that ABO Energy has initially launched in Germany also contributes to the positive outlook. In 2024, the company built a first substation in Schwerte (North Rhine-Westphalia) as a general contractor and fully engineered it in-house. In Herrscheid (also in North Rhine-Westphalia), a second substation was commissioned at the beginning of 2025. The plan is to build further substations and to keep them in the company’s portfolio permanently as strategic assets. This will expand future possibilities for connecting renewable energy projects to the grid. After all, connecting new capacities to the distribution grids is also becoming increasingly challenging in Germany.

„In several segments that are currently experiencing a strong upturn, ABO Energy has built up expertise at an early stage and secured market shares,“ summarises Dr Schlageter. This applies, for example, to wind energy in Germany, the global battery storage market, and grid connections. „We will continue to benefit from our good work in the coming years.“