Aker Horizons ASA

OSE:AKH

Earnings Call Transcript 2021-Q4

[Kristian Monsen Rokke, Chief Executive Officer]

Good afternoon and good morning to all joining. Welcome to this fourth quarter presentation. We're pleased with the industrial progress across the group. ACC securing a major feed contract; Aker Offshore Wind, reaching an important milestone in Korea; Aker Clean Hydrogen, passing milestones in Aukra and Hegra; Mainstream winning in South Africa; REC forming a new partnership with Hanwha Solutions. We are proud of the progress being made.We took several steps in the quarter to increase available liquidity, summing to NOK 3.4 billion. We've also made progress in diversifying funding sources including maturing our previously announced Green Yield initiative and Energy Transition Fund into what is now Aker Asset Management.We have been preparing for capital market volatility. In terms of fundamentals, our target markets continue to improve. The EU ETS price, for instance, has increased to over EUR 90 per ton. Corporates are pledging to reduce emissions, stimulating demand for clean fuels, for example, and governments and regulators are promoting policies to battle climate change. We're on a one-way street of transforming our energy system to preserve our planet and herein lies by necessity, value creation opportunities.Turning to specific company updates on Aker Carbon Capture. In a nutshell, Aker Carbon Capture is a pure-play CCUS, carbon capture utilization and storage company with proprietary technology developed over 20 years and validated with over 50,000 operating hours and certified for several applications.The core technology uses a mixture of water and organic [indiscernible] solvents to absorb the CO2 and can be applied to numerous industries, including cement, bio and waste energy, gas to power and blue hydrogen. In the quarter, there were several highlights, including the award of a FEED contract for BP's Net Zero Teesside project in the U.K. as part of a consortium, including Aker Solutions, Siemens Energy and Doosan Babcock. This is the world's first commercial-scale carbon capture system on a gas to power facility and marks a major step forward for a large-scale CCS with a project capacity of up to 2 million tons of CO2 per year.ACC commenced work on the Twence's carbon capture project in the Netherlands. Twence converts a 1 million tons of waste to energy every year, supplying more than 100,000 people in the Netherlands with heating and electricity. There are several innovative aspects of this project, including the use of ACC's Just Catch, which will be the first of a kind modular plant for the removal of CO2 from Fluke assets and also the reusing of CO2 as a sustainable raw material.The CO2 will be used by greenhouses to enhance plant growth with an aim to also utilize the liquid CO2 for other industries such as chemical and food industries. ACC further progressed the Brevik CCS project, the first carbon capture project at a cement facility worldwide. The project is progressing according to schedule with a key milestones achieved and all major purchase orders placed.On-site activity is set to pick up in June with the main installation work to take place next year. In the fourth quarter, ACC was selected by Viridor as a partner for accelerating decarbonization at its waste-to-energy sites in the U.K. with a delivery of 5 modular Just Catch plants by 2030. Viridor is 1 of the U.K.'s leading recycling resource and waste management companies with a stated ambition to become the first net zero waste company by 2040.This has the potential for ACC to contribute with a reduction of 1.5 million tons of CO2 from the 5 waste energy sites, combined with another 2 planned bespoke CCUS plants in the Viridor portfolio.Several collaboration agreements have been signed recently related to transportation and storage Dan-Unity CO2 is the world's first carbon capture and storage specific shipping entity established by Danish shipping companies, Evergas and Navigator Gas.While Altera Infrastructure and Höegh LNG, our global maritime and infrastructure companies, providing services in the CCUS value chain, including gaseous and liquid CO2 gathering, purification, liquefaction, transportation, and permanent underground storage of CO2. With both collaborations, the aim is to offer a full value chain approach for CCS by combining ACC's technology with our gas processing and marine transport capabilities.Turning to Aker Offshore Wind. In terms of company strategy, Aker Offshore Wind is a pure-play offshore wind developer with a focus on floating offshore wind. The company plans to develop, build and operate deepwater wind farms and contribute to the production of renewable energy. Key advantages being the industrial knowledge of the Aker Group within offshore developments, cooperation with strategic partners and close cooperation with Principal Power, a floating wind technology company with a proven floater design.Starting out with the disappointment after quarter end related to Scotland. Aker Offshore Wind did not secure any wind areas in the Scotland lease auction. It would be premature to comment on this in any detail at this stage, but I would say, one, it was a major positive that so much floating offshore wind was awarded, 65% of the auction, both for PPI and possibly for Aker Offshore Wind over time; and two, the Aker Group's track record of establishing local supply chains in Scotland aligns well with the U.K. and Scotland government's ambitions to build industrial strength as the offshore wind industries develops.Disappointing nonetheless, but for those of us who have seen failure in the first instance, turned to success over time, it's hard not to see opportunities. Moving on, a key development in the quarter was the progress made in Korea, which we regard to be one of the most attractive markets for floating wind. KF Wind, a joint venture between Ocean Winds and Aker Offshore Wind. KF Wind obtained its first electric business license from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy for a capacity of 870 megawatts. And KF Wind expects to receive a second EBL for a capacity of 450 megawatts. With these licenses, KF Wind is securing exclusive rights to develop floating wind offshore Korea for a total of 1.4 gigawatts. There is no competition for site control after the areas have been allocated in South Korea. However, there is a rigorous qualification process with key requirements to be met. The project is on track to reach financial close on the first 870 megawatts in 2024.Moving on to Aker Clean Hydrogen, Aker Clean Hydrogen is an integrated clean hydrogen producer, aiming to develop, build, own and operate hydrogen facilities, both blue and green globally. The company has established a portfolio in Norway and Chile and is targeting decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping, fertilizer and steel production.Since last quarter, Aker Clean Hydrogen increased its portfolio of projects and prospects under development by 200 megawatts to 2 gigawatts with highlights including: completing the feasibility phase of the Hegra green ammonia project, demonstrating that it's feasible to realize the conversion from gray to green ammonia at the plant at Herøya. This project will reduce CO2 emissions by 800,000 tons annually, making it 1 of Norway's largest climate initiatives.Together with Yara and Statkraft as co-development partners, ACH is now preparing for the concept selection phase. Together with Shell and Cape Omega, Aker Clean Hydrogen is developing a large-scale blue hydrogen and ammonia facility at Aukra using natural gas from the local gas processing plant. The Aukra Hydrogen Hub has passed its first decision gate, proving the project is both technically and commercially viable.Initial estimates show competitive levelized cost of hydrogen with several export opportunities to Europe. The hydrogen project at Rjukan is well positioned to be an early industry mover. Aker Clean Hydrogen has secured a competitive agreement for power with tin municipality, and logistic analysis show cost-efficient transport of compressed hydrogen for local industry in Eastern Norway.Securing offtake is critical for a hydrogen producer, and Aker Clean Hydrogen has recently entered into a series of partnerships to enable green fuel offtake in the maritime sector, including joining forces with the global leader in maritime logistics Kuehne+Nagel to accelerate green container shipping by expanding Kuehne+Nagel existing mass balance and certification system to include green fuels such as hydrogen ammonia and methanol. This enables Kuehne+Nagel customers to become carbon neutral by making use of Aker Clean Hydrogen's green fuels.Secondly, setting up a joint venture with shipping group [indiscernible] to establish a one-stop shop for green ammonia in the Arctic. The JV will handle sales and distribution of green ammonia from the green hydrogen and ammonia facility under development in Berlevåg. Finally, Aker Clean Hydrogen recently launched a collaboration with Aker BP to decarbonize their platform supply vessel operations in the North Sea.Then over to mainstream, handing it over to Mary.

[Mary Quaney, Group CEO & Director]

Many thanks, Kristian. And I'm very pleased to present Mainstream's progress during Q4 2021. The final quarter of the year was a period of really very exciting developments for the business. And as you'll see, our key highlights for the quarter span all of our regional platforms, including LatAm, Africa and Asia Pacific, and feature all of our core technologies of solar PV of onshore as well as offshore wind.So firstly, I'm really delighted to say that we achieved a major win in South Africa in the quarter where we were awarded 12 projects, 6 wind and 6 solar PV under around 5 of South Africa's renewable energy procurement program. This equates to 1.27 gigawatts of capacity, which represents about 49% of the total capacity awarded in the auction in full.Mainstream has a really strong track record in South Africa's renewable energy procurement program, and we've already successfully delivered 850 megawatts of wind and solar capacity since the first round. This quarter, in Vietnam, we reached an important milestone for our flagship Phu Cuong Soc Trang, offshore wind farm. The project received its investment registration certificate or it's IRC from the provincial government of Soc Trang for the first phase 200 megawatts of the offshore wind farm. This is in effect the final permit for the project and a very important step towards bringing the project towards FID. At the end of November, we successfully raised EUR 90 million in additional equity from our existing shareholder base, including Aker Horizons, which maintained its 75% stake in Mainstream. Demand from our Irish retail investor base was very strong and has resulted in an oversubscribed transaction, and this funding round will help accelerate our growth ambitions for 2022.During the quarter, I'm also very pleased to say that we completed construction of the first phase of our 1.4 gigawatt Andes Renovables wind and solar platform in Chile. This is our Condor portfolio, which is 3 wind farms and 1 solar farm with a total capacity of 591 megawatts and on that portfolio commissioning is now complete and exporting full power to the grid.And post year-end, just earlier this month, we successfully exited our Chilean joint venture with Actis. The joint venture is called Aela Energia, and we sold it to the Canadian listed developer Innergex Renewable Energy, and this transaction will generate net proceeds after tax to Mainstream of circa USD 114 million.And I'll take you through these highlights in more detail throughout the presentation. So on this next slide, you'll see that we continue to grow our global development pipeline, which now stands at a net 16.6 gigawatt portfolio. In the development phase this quarter, we have added capacity of 390 megawatts of early-stage development projects in South Africa, giving us a total global development pipeline of just under 15 gigawatts of net capacity.In construction, we have 1.28 gigawatts of capacity which has decreased from the previous quarter as it reflects the Alena wind farm in Chile and the West Bakr wind farm in Egypt, both achieving full commercial operation certification during the quarter and therefore, moving into operations. Therefore, these 2 projects then increase our operational capacity from a net 0.2 gigawatts in quarter 3 to a total of 310 megawatts for quarter 4.And then in addition to this, as I've mentioned previously, we also managed the fleet of 600 megawatts of operational assets in South Africa for the Lekela joint venture in which we are a partner.The next slide then shows our global portfolio, which spans across Latin America, Africa, Asia Pacific and offshore. I won't dwell on this slide. But as you see down on the left-hand side, you'll see our capacity by technology, which is well balanced between onshore wind and solar PV. And we have been very focused on this technology split, and you'll hear me mention it later on throughout the presentation as we're increasingly developing our projects with a hybrid approach, combining wind and solar technologies and also focusing on growing our pipeline of Offshore Wind projects in development. We've been growing the business in terms of pipeline activity and people very significantly in 2021, and we'll be continuing with this level of growth into 2022 and beyond.On to the next slide then where before I take you through our platform updates I just want to start by looking at some of the key themes and challenges which are relevant to the global industry at the present time and to explain how we, as Mainstream are actively managing them.The global industry as a whole is seeing inflation and cost pressures. And these are compounded by supply chain issues, which, if not managed properly, can have an impact on project returns. As quite an experienced global developer of renewable energy, I should point out that these themes are not new to us. We've experienced various cyclical changes over the years of operations. They're part of an ever evolving landscape of moving parts, which we've shown throughout the years that we have particular experience in managing and that goes back quite a number of years.So I have 2 key points on this slide. One is our contracting strategy on both wind and solar and how that strategy provides protection to cost inflation? And then secondly, I'll explain the timing of securing power purchase agreements and then how that marries with the timing of signing procurement and construction contracts, which provide protection against cost inflation and how we've incorporated the same into our bidding strategies.We monitor the industry very closely, and we started to see real cost increases from Q1 2021 onwards. But as you can see from the slide, starting over on the left, we secured the Andes power purchase agreements back in 2016. And then the key contracts for this 1.4 gigawatt platform were signed ahead of the current cost environment.So as you can see here, Condor and Huemul were signed in 2019 and then the final Copihue project at the end of 2020. The upcoming humbled portfolio, which we will bring to financial close in the first half of this year, its PPAs, it's power purchase agreements were secured in 2021. And with the latest cost inflation at that time incorporated into the PPA pricing.The same applies for South Africa Round 5, that was bid in Q3 of last year, again with cost inflation built into the bidding strategy for the tariffs secured. And then the other point to make is that in addition to the timing factors, our contracting approach is to fix these costs in our contracts so that we don't bear the risk of rising costs in the period between the signing of the construction contracts and the projects reaching commercial operation. So on our wind projects, the turbine supply agreements and the balance of plant agreements entered into to date are fixed price. Similarly, for solar PV contracts, our contracting strategy has been fully wrapped EPC contracts, so that we, as Mainstream are not exposed to fluctuations in solar module pricing, for example.On the next slide then, just looking at some macro factors. And here, I've tried to set out how rising inflation and the macro interest rate environment would impact our portfolio. So for -- if we start with the table on the left, which sets out the majority of our PPAs, which are fully index-linked in either U.S. dollars or to local currency. And so given that our CapEx, as shown on the previous slides, are largely fixed and that the O&M cost then during operations are really a very low cost base over the project life cycle. The impact on O&M is very much smaller so that in general terms, an increase in CPI would equate to a positive impact in returns. And then in addition to this, considering the interest rate environment, our approach to project finance and debt raising has been quite prudent.Again, taking the example of our Andes Renovables project finance portfolio. And all of that debt is of long tenors of 20 years. and with a very high proportion of the interest rates fully hedged, so up to 95% across the majority of that portfolio. So by way of an example, we have analyzed and quantified about a 1% rise in interest rates would mean to the cost base. And the impact would be on a total debt balance of USD 1 billion, our annual interest costs would increase by only USD 1.26 million annually.So the impact would really be quite mild when you consider the overall debt balance there. So in summary, these themes are fundamental factors, which we have and which will continue to incorporate into our contracting our bidding and our financing strategies in order to protect our project returns.Moving on then to the next slide and starting with the LatAm region, where Chile continues to be a key focus for us, as I mentioned. And our top priority being to bring our portfolio of wind and solar projects, which are now in construction, successfully into operations. And of course, secondly, to win more private and public PPAs during 2022 and to progress our next 1 gigawatt platform.And so as I mentioned earlier, I'm delighted to report that our Condor portfolio, which is the first of the 3 phases, is on track to reach full commercial operations shortly. And the portfolio of 3 wind farms and 1 solar project, these achieved financial close at the end of 2019. So just a few months before the COVID pandemic began. And despite the many challenges encountered in the meantime, all 4 projects were successfully commissioned 24 months later. So by the end of November 2021 and are now exporting full power to the grid.In terms of the individual assets, the Alena Wind Farm, as I mentioned, received its commercial operation certificate or COD in December. The Rio Escondido Solar Farm obtained its COD certificate just a few weeks ago in January. And then the final 2, the Tchamma and Cerro Tigre wind farms are on track to reach COD shortly.Then the second phase of the platform, which is called the Huemul portfolio consists of 3 wind farms and 2 solar farms with a total capacity of 630 megawatts. This portfolio achieved financial close in September 2020, and we're on track to complete construction over the course of this year. Our first Huemul project, Valle Escondido Solar Farm was energized this month, and it will export its first power in early March.And then with 2 further projects within the portfolio expected to begin exporting power early in Q2 of this year. So they're all well on track and making very solid progress.And then the final phase, the 148-megawatt Copihue wind assets, which includes our first private PPA in Chile, that's well on track to reach COD in 2023. In addition to our Andes Renovables platform, we are progressing our 1 gigawatt Nazca platform, which we announced in Q2 of last year. I'm humbled, the 300-megawatt portfolio is the first phase. It's a hybrid wind, solar and waste project with the long-term bilateral PPAs now in place, as I mentioned earlier, and this is progressing towards financial close by the middle of this year.Moving on to the next slide then. At the beginning of this month, we announced the sale of our Chilean joint venture with Actis called Aela Energía to Innergex for a total of USD 686 million. And throughout this process, we saw very strong demand and interest from a wide variety of buyers and the private capital markets from a demand and valuation point of view have continued to be very strong.We established this joint venture back in 2013, and with Mainstream taking a 40% stake and Actis taking remaining 60%. The platform comprises 3 fully operational assets, the Cuel, Sarco and Aurora Wind Farms together with a combined capacity of 332 megawatts. They were awarded PPAs in public auctions in 2015 and 2016, and combined, they generate enough clean electricity to power more than 0.5 million homes and displace more than 350,000 tons of CO2 per annum.We're really very pleased to have delivered the Aela portfolio as Mainstream from initial project development right through construction through to commercial operation and building this market leading renewable energy provider and selling it onwards to Innergex marks the successful conclusion to our involvement with Aela. The planned exit will generate net proceeds after tax to Mainstream of approximately USD 114 million, and we expect to close the transaction in Q2.Now moving on to Africa. In October, we announced a major win for Mainstream in South Africa, and this win makes mainstream the leading renewable energy company in the country and the single most successful company in the history of South Africa's renewable energy procurement program. This win means that we have been awarded in total, over 2.1 gigawatts of capacity to date under the renewable energy program. This includes 850 megawatts of wind and solar assets that we have already delivered end-to-end throughout the entire process from development to bidding, to financial close through construction and into commercial operation across rounds 1, round 3 and round 4 of the program.And throughout the program, we have achieved a number of firsts, including constructing South Africa's first self-built substation as well as bringing the first projects to financial close and to complete construction in each of rounds 1, 3 and 4. For this recent win, the 12 wind and solar projects, which have a total capacity of 1.27 gigawatts, they represent just under half of the total allocation of the round, which was the most competitive to date. It was almost 4x oversubscribed.We targeted a bidding strategy to bid and secure a platform at scale, which I'm very pleased to say, was successful. On the next slide, you will see the map which shows the 6 solar projects, which are co-located. So therefore, they benefit from significant economies of scale. And similarly, the wind projects, there are 2 clusters, as you can see, of 2 projects, each again, benefiting from efficiencies in shared infrastructure and CapEx across the projects.The consortium brings together a range of expertise led by our fully 100% African team within Mainstream of over 100 professionals based in Capetown and Johannesburg. And then within the consortium, which comprises Global and Africa, Rainbow Energy Power, H1 Holdings and then local community trusts. So at financial close, the ownership of the projects will transfer to the equity consortium of which Mainstream then is a 25% shareholder.We're currently progressing the completion of the development and preconstruction activities. Mainstream will deliver the engineering and construction of the 12 projects as we've done for previous awards. And then looking beyond round 5, we are actively expanding and progressing our development portfolio in South Africa in preparation for future private and public tenders. We are awaiting the round 6 bid date, which is expected to have total capacity for another 1 gigawatt of solar and 1.6 gigawatts of wind projects. And then our Pan-African platform, which is called Lekela Power has over 1 gigawatt growth capacity, either in construction or in operation. We are a minority shareholder within the Lekela joint venture and we operate the entire fleet of operational assets in South Africa. That's over 600 megawatts across 5 projects. As with the recent sale of Aela in Chile, our planned exit is underway and financial advisers have been appointed Phase 1 of the process for the sale of the entire Lekela Power platform kicked off in December. And similarly to the Aela process, we're seeing a very strong interest in the platform, and we expect to close the transaction this year.And now moving on to the Asia Pacific region. Our priority focus here is to bring our flagship solar and offshore wind assets, both located in Vietnam through to FID. Vietnam is our key market in the region, we identified it and entered it quite early. It being a regional leader in the deployment of renewable energy, and we've been actively developing projects in the market since 2016.And late last year, at COP26 in Glasgow, I had the opportunity to meet with the Vietnamese Prime Minister and senior ministerial delegation. And I'm very heartened by their continued strong commitment to renewables, which we have seen through their intention to phase out coal by the 2040s and have now set out a net-zero target.Today, in Vietnam, we have a growth pipeline of 2.3 gigawatts of solar and offshore wind assets in development. In Q4, we achieved a vital step for the Phu Cuong Soc Trang offshore wind farm with the receipt of the decision on investment and investment registration certificate from the provincial government of Soc Trang for the first phase 200 megawatts of the offshore wind farm.This is, in effect, the final permit required for the project and an important step towards finalizing the grid connection agreement and then to securing the PPA and tariff on the project and brings us a significant step closer towards FID. The project has already completed its wind measurement campaign and other site studies and the procurement process to secure the wind turbine supplier and that is a plant contractor is well advanced.This is a joint venture between mainstream and our Vietnamese partner, the Phu Cuong Group, with Mainstream owning 70% of the assets and the Phu Cuong Group owning the other 30%. On our solar assets, we expect to receive the IRC for our assets located in the Dak Nong progress -- located in the Dak Nong province, excuse me, during Q2 of this year and then to bring the first 100-megawatt solar project towards FID.Overall, we continue to see the APAC region as a really very high growth opportunity with renewable energy capacity set to triple by 2050. Outside of Vietnam, we're progressing a number of new market entry opportunities including Indonesia, where we have opened a regional office in Jakarta and exploring a number of potential opportunities in the market. And then in the Philippines, we're progressing our lead project, the 90-megawatt Cam Sur wind farm and also actively exploring other early-stage opportunities and pipeline additions.And then on the next slide, I will speak about our market entry into the Japanese offshore market along with our partner, Aker Offshore Wind. Mainstream has a very strong track record in development of offshore wind globally, and we are really delighted to be announcing our market entry into Japan where in Q3 of last year, we announced that we, along with Aker Offshore wind, have been selected as preferred bidder to acquire 50% in Progression Energy's 800-megawatt floating offshore wind farm and we expect this acquisition to close this quarter.In Ireland, here in our home market, we are seeing progress on the policy side with the passing of the marine area planning bill through our parliament, which is now we're waiting enactment. Ireland has huge offshore wind potential, and we have identified and targeted opportunities for fixed and floating technologies off the east, off the West and South Coasts of Ireland.And in the U.K., unfortunately, we started the year on a disappointing note where we were not successful in securing a site in the Scotland offshore leasing round along with our partner, Siemens. However, the U.K. continues to be a market in which we have a core presence in which we have a long track record. And we note that the upcoming Celtic Sea leasing round for which The Crown Estate has recently increased its capacity from 1 gigawatts to 4 gigawatts in support of the U.K.'s net-zero targets.And then finally, our U.S.-based offshore team is focused on preparing for several offshore auctions, which are expected in the U.S. within the coming years. The Biden administration has targets of 30 gigawatts of operational offshore wind by 2030 and 110 gigawatts by 2050, and these are increasingly underpinned by state targets. The rounds will be highly competitive depending on the amount of seabed being awarded for lease and the timing of the states running the various tenders, and that's a dynamic that we will monitor very closely.Then on to the next slide in green hydrogen and Power-to-X, we're progressing a number of opportunities. A number of Mainstream markets are naturally very well positioned for the hydrogen economy and provide us with competitive advantages in developing large-scale green Power-to-X solutions. As I referred to earlier, Chile has a strong green hydrogen strategy and targets, being a leader in markets with very clear targets and leveraging from its excellent renewable energy resources its capabilities and synergies with the strong mining industry locally with domestic as well as export targets.Similarly, South Africa is very well placed. Again, excellent low-cost wind and solar resources, high availability of land. And again, a domestic mining sector with raw materials for the hydrogen economy. These markets play to Mainstream's strengths and our strengths in developing large-scale infrastructure projects in markets in which we already have a leading position and a well-established presence. So we draw on our developer mindset on the agility that we're known for in the industry as well as our ability to identify and position opportunities early. And so we're very well positioned to pursue a number of very interesting developing opportunities across these and other similar markets.So to conclude, and before I hand back to Kristian, Q4 has been a very strong quarter for us, as we have continued to expand with pipeline increases with new market entries. We have completed construction and commissioning of the 4 projects within the Condor portfolio in Chile and strong progress on the Huemul portfolio, the next most advanced construction portfolio.In South Africa, we executed a successful bid strategy being awarded 1.27 gigawatts the full amount that we bid and I very much look forward to updating you further as we progress during 2022.

[Kristian Monsen Rokke, Chief Executive Officer]

Okay. Thank you very much, Mary, for that good overview. We couldn't be more pleased with how the partnership with Mainstream is developing and the strategic fit within Aker Horizons. Solar and wind will continue to lead the way for renewable energy as the cheapest source of both generation and large parts of the world.Mainstream is a proven development organization, and we're seeing increasing synergies with other parts of our Aker Horizons in particular, around Power-to-X as in Chile. We also see that the private markets continue to show a lot of interest for renewable energy projects, as witnessed by the recent sale of Aela. And by extension, we also see opportunity to attract growth capital from strategic investors at the Mainstream group level, which we will be open-minded towards.So with that, it's over to Nanna to walk us through the financials.

[Nanna Tollefsen, Chief Financial Officer]

Thank you, Kristian. So starting on Slide 25. In the quarter, the net asset value increased by approximately NOK 850 million. REC Silicon had a positive quarter with a share price increase of 36% on the back of the announced transaction with Hanwha Solutions coming in as a strategic investor at NOK 20 per share. Aker Clean Hydrogen was down 10% in the quarter, while the other portfolio companies had minor share price increases. For Aker Carbon Capture, Aker Horizons sold down from 49% to 42%, for gross proceeds of NOK 1 billion at NOK 23.8 per share.Positive developments in unlisted assets represents investments made by Aker Horizons in the quarter. In Q4, Aker Horizons invested its pro rata share of 75% in a EUR 90 million capital raise in Mainstream and invested in sites in Norvik.The net debt was reduced by approximately NOK 950 million with proceeds from a capital raise in Aker Horizons of NOK 1 billion, the sell-down of shares in Aker Carbon Capture of NOK 1 billion partly countered by investments in Mainstream, Aker Narvik as well as running and interest costs.On Slide 26, this shows the key financials of Aker Horizons and holding companies for the fourth quarter. We reported an EBITDA of negative NOK 48 million in Q4. This is reflecting general overhead and project activity. The net profit of NOK 22 million also reflects value change in our listed portfolio shareholdings and other financial items, mainly being interest costs.Cash flow from operating activities was negative NOK 66 million, consisting of running costs and interest paid. The drivers of investing activities are mainly the Aker Horizons investments into mainstream and Aker Narvik as well as the proceeds from sale of shares in Aker Carbon Capture. On financing activities, Aker Horizons fully repaid the drawn amount on the RCF in the quarter and also raised NOK 1 billion in a private placement.Slide 28 gives an overview of our current financing facilities. We have 4 sources of debt financing. We have a subordinated shareholder loan of NOK 2 billion. This carries an interest of 6% plus a 1% deferral fee and matures in 2026. We have a subordinated convertible bond carrying a 1.5% payment in kind interest. It has a conversion price of NOK 43.75 per share, also maturing in 2026. We have a green bond of NOK 2.5 billion with a margin of 3.25%, maturing in 2024.Lastly, the RCF. And in October, we increased the committed facility from EUR 400 million to EUR 500 million and also added a new accordion option on top potentially bringing the total facility up to EUR 600 million. The RCF facility has a duration of 3 years plus 1-year options. And at year end, the RCF was undrawn.This brings us to the available liquidity on Slide 29. As of year-end, the RCF of EUR 500 million was undrawn, and we had a cash position of NOK 427 million. This sums log to an available liquidity of NOK 5.4 billion at year-end, up from NOK 3.5 billion at Q3. The drivers of this is, as previously explained, the capital raise in Aker Horizons of NOK 1 billion sale of shares in Aker Carbon Capture of NOK 1 billion, the increase in the RCF of EUR 100 million and those effects are partially countered by investments in Mainstream and Aker Narvik.The net debt position was for the same reasons, down from NOK 6.3 billion at Q3 to NOK 5.4 billion at Q4. And post quarter end, we have received the proceeds from the transaction of NOK 438 million, which is not reflected in the Q4 figures.The capital structure on Slide 30 reflects listed assets at market value and unlisted assets at book values. The loan-to-value as defined by the covenant stood at 11% as per Q4, down from 14% at Q3. This gives significant headroom to our covenant of 50%. And that concludes the financial section, and I'll hand the word back to Kristian.

[Kristian Monsen Rokke, Chief Executive Officer]

Thank you, Nanna. Two points I'd like to make in closing. The first relates to the strength of the underlying markets relevant for Aker Horizons. One example being how the EU ETS market has strengthened in a major way. We spoke at length about this at our Q2. At the time, the highest price observed was EUR 58 per ton. Now it's EUR 98. It may very well decrease in the short term as there are multiple factors affecting the carbon price, such as the gas price, but current EU ETS levels are already having a fundamental impact.For instance, with normalized gas prices, even the most efficient coal-based power plants are no longer profitable versus old gas plants at carbon prices above EUR 80 per ton. In our view, we are starting to leave the gas to coal fuels switch range and moved into the industrial abatement cost range. Aker Carbon Capture has stated at the full value chain service offering to be in the range of EUR 70 to EUR 150 per ton, meaning we should start to see economic viability. This will naturally take time as corporate investment decisions typically take quarters and years while markets move in real time. It's still early days, but the price and cost of carbon are converging, which is key for our market adoption.Furthermore, we can read daily about corporates making commitments to decarbonization. The shipping sector is a good example where end customers, both retail and industrial are demanding lower CO2 footprints. The announcement with Kuehne+Nagel is a good example of this dynamic, and we are seeing similar mechanisms at play in other sectors, such as the automotive industry in the impact on the green steel value chain.Second point in closing is related to continued industrial development, unphased by volatility in capital markets. You've heard today several examples of industrial progress, project milestones, new partnerships, new ventures, the example of Narvik is fitting, holistic green value chains, playing to Aker Horizons strengths, decarbonization, partnering with local communities, working downstream to create offtake, large capital investments.We have a strong liquidity of NOK 5.4 billion. We see great interest at the portfolio company level, such as that Mainstream to raise growth capital at strategically focused investors. We see an enormous interest amongst green infrastructure capital and the scarcity of origination of energy transition projects. This is where Aker Horizons has an unfair advantage in its own ecosystem multiplied by the wider Aker Group.With that, we're happy to take some questions.

[Ivar Simensen, Head of Communications]

Thank you, Kristian. We now have time for some questions from you. My name is Ivar Simensen, Aker Horizons Communications. And in addition to the speakers, we also have Paul Corrigan, CFO of Mainstream Renewable power with us. The first question is on Offshore Wind. And what is your view on opportunities for Aker Offshore Wind in the domestic market? And how do you assess the plans laid out by the Norwegian government last week?I'll respond to that. First, because last week, the Norwegian government shared details and firm ambitions to realize offshore wind at industrial and commercial scale in Norway with Phase 1 of Sørlige-Nordsjø to have a capacity of 1,500 megawatts with a Phase 2 adding another 1,500 megawatts. And these developments of electricity produced from Phase 1 will be transmitted via subsea cable to the Norwegian mainland while the government said it would evaluate different grid alternatives, including export for the second phase.In the Utsira North area, the government confirmed plans to realize a total of 1,500 megawatts from floating offshore wind across multiple developments. Well, in summary, we're pleased to see the process moving forward, and particularly not the Prime Minister's ambition to have wind farms in operation before 2030. And we also view positive of the fact that the Norwegian government is starting to look beyond the first 2 areas of development, providing the industry the prospect of a pipeline, which is critical to reach scale. Aker Offshore Wind had partnered with strong established players like BP, Statkraft and OceanWinds for the 2 developments in Norway and these parties will continue to mature these opportunities.And I think also if we look at the extended home market, we note this morning, Sweden announcing plans to accelerate the development of 20 to 30 terawatt hours of offshore wind along the Swedish coast. And at the same time, instructing its energy agency to develop plans for another 90 terawatt hours of electricity produced from offshore wind in Sweden, where Aker Offshore Wind has a good partnership with Hexicon for several potential developments. So we certainly see a lot of opportunities for Aker offshore wind in its markets goes to home. And just putting those terawatt hours up to 120 in perspective, the first phase of Sørlige-Nordsjø is seen around 7 terawatt hours. So that's some commentary on the domestic opportunities for Aker Offshore Wind.We move on to the second question that is coming from Turner Home of Clarksons. It goes to Mary in Dublin. Could you talk more about the pricing you're seeing in the private market for renewable developments and how this contrasts to the increasing cost of capital in public markets where your book value for Mainstream. And in this regard, we expect that there will be a gain on these -- on the recent sale by Mainstream of wind assets in Chile? Mary, please go ahead.

[Paul Corrigan, Group Chief Financial Officer]

It's Paul here. I know Mary just let me note actually just dialed off and dialed back on again. Could we go to the next question and just repeat it should be back in 2 seconds?

[Ivar Simensen, Head of Communications]

Certainly. We'll move on to the next question. On goodwill, you've previously reported a number for goodwill on Mainstream. And can you comment on whether this has changed in the quarter? I guess, Nanna, you will take that?

[Nanna Tollefsen, Chief Financial Officer]

Yes. So the goodwill that has been reported this far has been preliminary. And we worked since the closing of the mainstream acquisition on an in-depth future cash flow analysis for the final purchase price allocation. And this has resulted in a significant reallocation between assets.So the preliminary goodwill that we reported was estimated at EUR 518 million, while the final is estimated to EUR 157 million, and those numbers are both on a 100% basis. This reallocation is a result of significant excess values that have been identified in the Andes portfolio and in Aela and Lekela. And these are the assets that qualify for asset recognition under IFRS.A technical note is that in addition to the EUR 157 million of goodwill that represent the development portfolio and the platform value of Mainstream, there is also EUR 108 million of technical goodwill related to the Andes portfolio. And this is due to a recognition of a deferred tax liability on the identified contractual assets, and this part of the goodwill is therefore directly related to the asset values of Andes and not the pipeline or the Mainstream platform.The purchase price allocation was completed before the Aela transaction. and the transaction ended at a higher value than was estimated, which demonstrates that the methodology applied is robust. The final purchase price allocation will be presented in Aker Horizon's annual report in March and we do not see any impairment to any of these assets today.

[Ivar Simensen, Head of Communications]

Okay. Thank you -- Thank you, Nanna. Mary, if you're back on, I can repeat the question from Turner? Great. Good to hear you. Yes, please. So could you talk about the pricing you're seeing in the private market for renewable developments and how this contrasts to the increasing cost of capital in public markets or your book value for Mainstream? In this regard, do you expect there will be a gain on the recent sale by mainstream of wind assets in Chile?

[Mary Quaney, Group CEO & Director]

Yes. So what we're seeing is a very strong private market, and we've seen that in the sale of the Aela portfolio in the Lekela process, and that has now started. So we're very strong portfolios of good quality assets are coming to market. We're seeing a very strong interest from quite a wide range of bidders. We're experiencing very competitive processes. We're experiencing low execution risk. And from the mainstream perspective, we will update further when the transaction closes with regard to the sale of Aela but we expect to be reporting a strong gain on that transaction.

[Ivar Simensen, Head of Communications]

Okay. Thank you. Mary. Now another question is from [indiscernible]. On the MRP Mainstream solar assets in Chile, specifically the Pampa Tigre, Valle Escondido and Rio Escondido, they seem to have particularly high capacity factors based on the production estimates. Is there any particular reason for this? There's a second question, if you could update us on the CapEx for Mainstream's remaining construction assets?

[Mary Quaney, Group CEO & Director]

Great. I'll take both of those questions. Yes, the Mainstream solar assets, the Pampa Tigre, Valle Escondido and Rio Escondido, they do have very strong capacity factors. And what you're seeing here have the strongest development pipelines in Chile, we've been present in the market since 2009, and the assets with the strongest solar and also wind resources. So that's what those P50 estimates.Then with regard to the CapEx on the Mainstream construction assets, on the Condor and Huemul portfolios, the project finance is now effectively fully -- our project finance structure then allows us to back end our own equity. So we are now commencing our equity investment contributions across both portfolios, what we're contributing remains in line with our forecast and in line with the construction budgets.

[Ivar Simensen, Head of Communications]

Thank you, Mary. The next question from a retail investor is when can we expect information about reopening Moses Lake as relating to REC Silicon, Kristian?

[Kristian Monsen Rokke, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. Well, the company REC said at the last quarter that they're going to maintain the ability for possible Moses Lake start-up and in 2023 of the back of a tight polysilicon market, favorable government support in the United States and the FBR technology, which is competitive in today's market, particularly given the low energy consumption of that technology.And I'll let the company provide an update the reporting later this week. But I can say that we're very pleased with our new partner, Hanwha Solutions, myself and representative from Hanwha have now gone on the Board, and this topic is of highest priority for REC.

[Ivar Simensen, Head of Communications]

Okay. Great. There's another question from Turner Home, Clarksons. This is with regards to Mainstream. Can you talk about how project returns are evolving, given increasing interest rates and inflation, but also higher electricity prices across much the world due to rising fossil fuel prices. In other words, our returns keeping up with inflation?

[Mary Quaney, Group CEO & Director]

Yes. I would say, yes, to answer the direct question. Firstly, I would note that CPI increases returns on our existing projects, as I said out within the presentation, and that we factor in any higher costs in our bidding strategy, and that's a very careful and considered approach.I expect that over the medium term, that broader return expectations will rise to match investors' return requirements, assuming that they would be higher at times of higher inflation. Clearly, we're seeing higher electricity price much of the world. So therefore, we do expect the return profile to continue to evolve.

[Ivar Simensen, Head of Communications]

Thank you, Mary. Now there's a question from Nicolas Odegard Carsons. Since the third quarter '21, Aker Horizons have taken several actions to strengthen its financial position, including private placement and share sales in ACC and RAC. Is Aker Horizons is now fully funded to support the growth ambitions of all the subsidiaries or can we expect further capital raises either through share sales or issuance of new shares. Nanna, will you take?

[Nanna Tollefsen, Chief Financial Officer]

Yes. So we have a strong financial position today. At quarter end, we had available liquidity of NOK 5.4 billion. And in January, we received the proceeds from the transaction with Hanwha. We are not planning for a capital raise, and we see great interest in funding of green projects and do not see it as a challenge to attract capital for developing our projects.

[Ivar Simensen, Head of Communications]

That's great. I have a question from Haakon at ABG. How does the current challenging equity market impact your holdings in terms of organic growth ambitions and M&A opportunities?

[Kristian Monsen Rokke, Chief Executive Officer]

Well, for organic growth, and you just heard from Nanna, it's full steam ahead. We're very excited about the plant, and we have a robust position at Aker Horizons, and we see a diversified sources of financing for our projects. And then in terms of M&A, as we had in our summary slide.We think that this volatility in the current market will offer opportunities. It's something that we're going to be disciplined about, but it's certainly on our radar screen on using M&A to enhance our growth in Aker Horizons.

[Ivar Simensen, Head of Communications]

Okay. Thank you, Kristian. That concludes our presentation this afternoon, and we thank you for participating.