AES Set to Complete 3.8 GW of New Power Capacity

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Having completed 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of power capacity development in 2018, AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) (Arlington, Virginia) still has more than 3.8 GW gigawatts of capacity under construction that will come online through 2021, company executives said Wednesday.

Industrial Info is tracking nearly $10.5 billion in AES project activity in 15 countries, including nearly $6 billion worth in the U.S.

Click on the image at right for a graph showing AES' U.S. project activity by state.

AES finished last year with a net income of more than $1.56 billion, compared with a $777 million loss in 2017. Revenue for 2018 totaled $10.74 billion, compared with $10.53 billion in 2017.

"2018 was a very good year for AES, demonstrated by our strong financial results and excellent progress toward achieving our strategic goals, including enhancing the resilience of our portfolio and increasing the profitability of our business," AES Chief Financial Officer Andrés Gluski said in an earnings conference call with industry analysts. He noted the completion last year of the $600 million IPL Eagle Valley project in Martinsville, Indiana, a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle (NGCC) project that generates 671 megawatts (MW). For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

The company is striving to decrease the risk factors in its business portfolio, he said, including "completing most of the large conventional projects under construction and focusing our future growth on renewable projects, which are less capital intensive and considerably simpler to build."

For the period of 2019 through 2021, AES plans to complete projects totaling nearly $9.2 billion in capital expenditures, with a total capacity of more than 4.4 GW, according to the company's earnings presentation.

By 2022, the company will have brought online a total of 12 GW in capacity, Gluski said, adding, "By then, we project that the U.S. will represent almost half of our earnings, versus about one-third today."

In the U.S., AES's repowering of the Alamitos power facility in Long Beach, California, is about 80% complete, Gluski said. Completion is planned for mid-2020. The project, which has a total investment value of $963 million, comprises a 642-MW natural gas-fired unit consisting of two 216-MW General Electric (NYSE:GE) combustion turbine generators, supplementary heat recovery steam generators and a 210-MW general electric steam turbine generator. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Also in California, construction is underway on the first phase of 644-MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant repower project, valued at $500 million, at the Huntington Beach Power Station, with completion planned for mid-2020. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Of the nearly $6 billion in AES project activity being tracked in the U.S., about $2.7 billion is for renewable energy projects. One of those is a 240-MW solar farm development near Thornburg, Virginia. The $480 million project is the second phase of the 500-MW Spotsylvania Solar Energy Center project. Construction is planned to kick off in the second quarter of 2019, with completion in first-quarter 2021. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.