Solid results in an uncertain market

Strategy highlights:

• On schedule with our One Planet Plan, CO₂ emissions down to 9.3 Mtonnes (2023: 9.7 Mtonnes).
• Customer satisfaction across all countries and segments increased, from 84.3% to 85.5%, partly due to AI-driven efficiency of customer services.
• Integration/trade: growth in battery storage systems, particularly in Germany and Belgium (Ville-sur-Haine battery park, 50 MW).
• Assets: growth of installed sustainable capacity to 2792 MW (2023: 2394 MW). Besides the battery, main contributions include Kabeljauwbeek solar farm (51.5 MWp), residual heat Groenoord (49MW) and RWZI aquathermal heat pump (27 MW) and several decentral heat buffers (each around 20-25 MW) in the Utrecht region.
• Eneco and Tennet announce collaboration to manage net congestion in Utrecht area

Strategy challenges:

• Increased dependency on weather conditions (less wind, a lot of sun)
• Challenging and volatile regulatory environment, most notably impacting heat, offshore wind, green hydrogen and heat pumps markets.
• Implementation of an effective capacity mechanism is needed to ensure a reliable energy system.

Solid financial results:

• Revenues decreased from €8.2 billion in 2023 to €7.24 billion, as a result of lower prices and slightly decreased sales volumes in the electricity market.
• After an exceptional 2023 which included a number of one-off benefits, Eneco achieved solid results in this financial year. EBIT was €341 million (2023: €394 million), EBITDA €724 million (2023: €771) and profit after income tax €245 million (2023: €368 million).
• ROACE is 5.6%, close to 6% target.
• Investments €447 million (2023: €750 million) remain larger than net profit (€245 million) as well as depreciation (€383 million).

Eneco had a solid year in challenging circumstances. We made meaningful progress with the implementation of our One Planet Plan and the other pillars under our strategy: customers, assets and integration. Consumer prices decreased compared to the unprecedented levels during the energy crisis, although understandably, many households and businesses remain concerned. We continue to offer a number of smart solutions to meet the various customer demands, such as dynamic contracts and smart charging. Recently, we announced a new contract for off-peak energy consumption in the summer of 2025: Eneco VoordeelMomenten. Eneco continued to invest in digitalisation and AI to improve the customer experience, which has already resulted in increased customer satisfaction (from 84.3% in 2023 to 85.5% in 2024).

We also expanded our battery capacity, as the importance of energy storage becomes increasingly  evident in a weather-dependent energy system. Plans were developed to further scale up our storage infrastructure in all our markets. Eneco’s renewable assets portfolio (mainly wind, solar, heat and batteries) increased by 398 MW (2024:2792 MW, 2023: 2394 MW). Work commenced for the construction of Ecowende, our newest offshore wind farm co-owned with Chubu and Shell, which is planned to be fully operational in late 2026.

The heat business made significant progress by connecting the first 1000 homes to the new grid in Groenoord in Schiedam, and 830 homes in Bospolder-Tussendijken in Rotterdam, while the largest heat pump in The Netherlands was taken into operation, running on residual heat from the wastewater treatment plant in Utrecht. Additionally, the construction of four heat storage buffers was  completed for the heating grid in Utrecht and Nieuwegein.  

We decreased our CO₂ emissions again, to 9.3 Mtonnes. This means Eneco remains below the 1.5°C emission pathway set in our One Planet Plan. This is in large part due to our 2022 decision to stop selling new fossil power to business customers, while Dutch heat demand remains significantly below pre-2022 levels. We continued our efforts to actively improve biodiversity and adopted a Code of Conduct on Biodiversity. Also, from 2025 onwards, all onshore investment decisions must result in a 110% improvement in the state of nature compared to the start of the project.  

Net congestion increasingly influences the pace of the energy transition. Eneco is also doing its part to  address this challenge. Therefore we are proud to announce our contract with Tennet which aims to utilise our production facility in Utrecht to ensure sufficient adjustable power production when needed. This will ease congestion in the Utrecht region.

Political situation

Eneco’s sphere of operation is strongly influenced by political decisions. A prominent example is the continued uncertainty around the new Dutch Collective Heating Act (Wet Collectieve Warmte), which had a negative impact on investments due to the issue of mandatory public ownership for new heat grids. In addition, we have repeatedly appealed to the government to improve the market conditions for offshore wind parks, as current business cases are unsustainable. We also call for the quick implementation of an effective capacity mechanism to ensure a reliable energy system. Eneco was disappointed by the reversal of the decision to phase out gas-fired boilers, which negatively impacts our heat pump business. Nevertheless, we also recognise the continued dedication to the energy transition by many in The Hague and Brussels and continue to collaborate with government and other stakeholders to regain momentum in the energy transition.     

Solid financial results

In these challenging market conditions, we managed to achieve solid financial results, summarised as follows:

Revenues from energy and energy-related products and/or services were €7.2 billion, a decrease of  €1.0 billion compared to the previous year. The drop mainly occurred in the electricity markets, due to lower prices and slightly decreased sales volumes.

The gross margin ended at €1,612 million, almost equal to 2023 (€1,620 million). The operating profit (EBIT) was €341 million, a decrease of 13.5% (2023: €394 million). Yet normalised for the one-off Ecowende sale (€81 million) and the remarkable trade results of last year, there was actually an increase in operating profit, due to stable margin combined with lower costs. Consequently, the ROACE was  5.6%, compared to 7.8% in 2023.

Cost awareness programs and the restructuring of the operations in Belgium and the Netherlands led to overall lower expenses, which decreased by €95 million (15%) to €522 million.  

As expected, net income ended at €245 million, €123 million less than the exceptionally strong year 2023. Besides the one-offs mentioned above, the companies in which we hold an interest performed less strongly than before, leading to a decrease in income from €64 million in 2023 to €20 million in 2024. Additionally, wind conditions were not favourable, while higher interest rates and a higher average debt position during the year were working against Eneco.

Increased investments

Once again, Eneco invested significantly more than its net profit and depreciation – particularly in sustainable assets. Of the total of €447 million, €39 million was invested in new wind farms in the Netherlands and Belgium, €59 million in solar parks and €69 million in battery capacity.

Eneco also continued to invest in heating grids. A total of €181 million was spent on expansions, replacements and maintenance for the actual heating grids, but also replacements and sustainability improvements for heat-generating facilities.

Compared to 2023, investments decreased, as no new investments in offshore wind farms were made.

For more information and the video by As Tempelman explaining the results, see: Annual reports | Eneco