NextEra Energy Resources expects continued growth in renewable energy portfolio

NextEra Energy Partners is sticking to its plan for steady growth in its solar portfolio.

This morning’s quarterly results call revealed that NextEra Energy (NEE), parent company to NextEra Energy Resources (NER), grew at approximately 9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, and its focus on its renewable-energy portfolio is providing a significant boost to those numbers. It should be noted that its natural gas assets are also included under the renewable-energy results for NEE’s yieldco, NextEra Energy Partners (NEP).

NEP recently completed the acquisition of an approximately 132-megawatt share of high-quality solar generation marks the third major acquisition this year from NER.

NER, the development arm of NEE, reported a net income of $307 million for the third quarter and a $0.66 earnings per share (EPS), both down from 2015.

On the call, NEE appears to be mostly focused on wind development.

During the third quarter, NextEra reported NER had signed around 822 MW of new projects for delivery in 2017-2018, including 275 MW of solar. The planned solar acquisitions comprise 33 percent of the total planned renewable-energy acquisitions over the period.

It developed 1.2 GW of solar over the 2015-2016 period with 12 projects in five states, including non-traditional solar states like Georgia and Alabama. Current projections indicate NER’s solar portfolio to grow between 400 MW and 1,300 MW in the next two years.

Overall, the company reported that it grew distributions per unit by 26 percent from the prior-year comparable period and is on track to deliver strong shareholder growth.