Photon Energy Group Publishes Annual Report for 2020 with Improved EBITDA and Expanded IPP Portfolio - Seite 2

Annual Report 2020

Despite the challenges of COVID-19, Photon Energy Group delivered strong results, recording basically no impact from the pandemic on its electricity generation, nor to its EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) and O&M (operations and maintenance) business segments, all key contributors to Photon Energy Group's growth in 2020.

During the year, the Company produced a record 70.0 GWh of clean energy, representing around 29,799 tons of carbon emission savings, and built PV power plants with a combined capacity of 23.0 MWp in Hungary, bringing its IPP (independent power producer) portfolio to 74.7 MWp. The Company's O&M division also made significant progress last year, and now oversees solar assets with a combined capacity of more than 300 MWp.

2020 was a pivotal year in Australia, with continued expansion and exciting new developments, including the Company's first two utility-scale power plants, with a combined capacity of 14.6 MWp, which were brought to the commissioning stage. These will be the two largest projects to be added to the Company's IPP portfolio and its first merchant projects providing competitive energy into the Australian energy market. The Company also completed the construction of a hybrid 1.2 MWp solar and 3.2 MWh battery storage system on Lord Howe Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The system is projected to generate and store enough energy to cover more than two thirds of the island's electricity needs, leading to a more resilient and environmentally sustainable power supply.

On the project development front, despite more difficult market entry conditions because of travel restrictions, the Company managed to increase its development pipeline for PV projects to a combined capacity of over 200 MWp in Hungary, Romania and Poland. As a result, the Company is positioned to build several new power plants in these countries in 2021.

The Company also continued challenging and transforming the renewables industry, as illustrated by its recently concluded strategic investments. After an initial investment in April 2020, the Company has just announced its participation in a capital increase in RayGen, a Melbourne-based technology company specialising in high-efficiency concentrated PV generation with thermal absorption and storage. In December 2020, the Company also participated in the second equity financing round for Lerta, a Polish company that develops virtual power plant technologies and services.