Boralex Inc

TSX:BLX

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q1

[Operator]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Boralex First Quarter 2022 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Also note that this call is being recorded. For webcast participants, you can also ask questions during the conference, but they will be answered by e-mail after the call. Finally, media representatives are invited to contact Boralex' Director of Public Affairs and Communications, Isabelle Fontaine. Her contact information is provided at the end of the quarterly press release.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Stephane Milot, Senior Director, Investor Relations of Boralex. Please go ahead.

[Stéphane Milot, executive]

Merci beaucoup. Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Boralex' First Quarter Results Conference Call. Joining me today from our head office in Montreal are Patrick Decostre, President and Chief Executive Officer; Bruno Guilmette, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and other members of our management and finance team. Mr. Decostre will begin with comments about market conditions and the highlights of the quarter. Afterwards, Mr. Guilmette will carry on with financial highlights, and then we will be available to answer your questions.

As you know, during this call, we will be discussing historical as well as forward-looking information. When talking about the future, there are a variety of risk factors that have been listed in our different filings with securities regulators, which can materially change our estimated results. These documents are all available for consultation at sedar.com. In our webcast presentation document, the disclosed results are presented both on a consolidated basis and on a combined basis. Unless otherwise stated, all comments made in this presentation will refer to combined basis figures. Please note that combined is non-GAAP financial measures and do not have standardized meaning under IFRS. Accordingly, combined may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. For more details, see the non-IFRS and other financial measures section in the MD&A.

The press release, the MD&A, the consolidated financial statements and a copy of today's presentations are all posted on the Boralex website at boralex.com under the Investors section. If you wish to receive a copy of these documents, please contact me.

Mr. Decostre will now start with his comments. Please go ahead, Patrick.

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Thank you, Stephane. Good morning, everyone. Bonjour. It's a pleasure for me to present our results and achievements for the first quarter. I'm very proud of all the hard work our teams in Europe and North America have put together in the past few months. Everyone in the organization contributed to the 13% growth in EBITDA and a 28% increase in consolidated AFFO. But also, to the closure of 2 significant partnerships and the additions of projects to our pipeline as well as the selection of wind project in the most recent request for proposal in France.

That being said, the market conditions continued to rapidly evolve during the quarter. In the U.S., investment in renewable energy has been integrated into a plan aimed at bringing back manufacturing to the United States and reduce inflationary pressures. The federal government is also quickly committing infrastructure investment and Job Act funds to deploy USD 7.5 billion in electrical vehicle recharging infrastructure. The increased adoption of electrical vehicles is expected to increase power consumptions by 1,425 terawatt hours in the United States by 2050, an increase of 36% compared to 3,930 terawatt hours consumed in 2021, considering only the electrification of transportation.

In Canada, Hydro-Quebec made public its 2022-2026 strategic plan, taking into account the energy transition underway and the government's ambition reflected in its 2030 plan for green economy. Hydro-Quebec expects that more than 100 terawatt hours of power will be required in Quebec by 2050. Among the avenues identified to reach this objective, Hydro-Quebec intends to rely on the development of wind energy by building with partners a 3,000-megawatt portfolio of wind energy projects by 2026, to be developed as and when the need arises. Hydro-Quebec also announced recently request for proposals for 1,000 megawatts of wind and 1,300 megawatts of renewable energy.

In Europe, the geopolitical context reinforces the need to ensure security of energy supply and sovereignty. The sharp rise in energy prices in France, mainly due to maintenance and corrosion problems to certain nuclear reactors, could also significantly favor the development of renewable projects and corporate PPA in the coming years.

I will now review the main variances in our portfolio of projects. The 73-megawatt increase in the early stage was due primarily to the addition of 3 new wind power projects and 2 new solar projects totaling 75 megawatts in Europe as well as the addition of 2 new solar projects totaling 25 megawatts in North America. This was partly offset by the inclusion of a wind and solar power project totaling 9 megawatts in Europe under the mid-stage phase and change in the expected capacity of a solar power project as well as the discontinuation of a wind power project for a total of 18 megawatts in Europe.

The 159-megawatt increase in the mid-stage was due primarily to the addition of a wind project and adjustment to the pipeline following the announcement of the partnership agreement with Hydro-Quebec and Energir, representing a total of 167 megawatts. The increase also comes from the inclusion of a wind power project and a solar power project under the mid-stage phase and change in the expected capacity of a solar and wind power project in Europe for a total of 12 megawatts. The increase was partly compensated by a 20-megawatt solar power project in Europe moving to secured phase. The 116-megawatt increase to advanced stage was primarily due to the addition of a project and adjustment in the pipeline following the announcement of the partnership agreement with Hydro-Quebec and Energir for a total of 133 megawatts.

Change to the expected capacity of wind projects in Europe also at 9 megawatts. This was partly offset by the inclusion of a 26-megawatt wind project in Europe in the secured phase. In total, we are now developing a portfolio of wind and solar projects of 3.6 gigawatts and 177 megawatts of storage projects.

Let's review changes to the growth path now. The 38-megawatt increase in the secured stage was driven by the inclusion of 2 wind projects totaling 46 megawatts and capacity addition of 6 megawatts to existing projects. This was partly offset by the inclusion of a 14-megawatt wind project to the under construction and ready-to-build phase. Projects under construction or ready to build phase increased by 14 megawatts by the addition of Bois Ricard wind project. As shown in the growth path, we had assets in operation with 2,492 megawatts of installed capacity as at March 31, 2022, the same as at December 31, 2021, and an installed capacity of 2,447 megawatts as at May 10, 2022, following the disposal of 2 power stations after the end of the quarter. Commissioning of secured phase secured facilities and projects under construction is expected to bring our installed capacity to 3,146 megawatts.

In conclusion, as you can see on Slide 12, we are pursuing the execution of our strategic plan and are making good progress on all the 4 strategic orientations. I won't cover in detail our progress as I already have highlighted our main achievements. One last point from my part. Earlier this week, we announced the results of our most recent CSR scoring by EcoVadis for our French operations. I'm very proud to say that we got the gold medal being classified in the top 95 percentile of corporations in our industry evaluated by EcoVadis. This shows the dedication of all our employees to constantly improve on CSR and brings one step closer to our goal of being recognized as a CSR reference by our different stakeholders. This completes my part. I will now let Bruno cover the financial portion in more detail, and we'll be back later for the question period. Bruno?

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

Thank you, Patrick. Good morning, everyone. I will start with a review of the progress made in light of our 2025 corporate objectives. As mentioned by Patrick earlier, capacity decreased slightly following the sale of our last thermal plant. Total capacity now stands at 2.4 gigawatts of 100% pure renewable energy. Our last 12 months EBITDA and AFFO increased due to strong results for the first quarter. Our reinvestment ratio now stands at 55%, which is in line with our 50% to 70% target.

About our CSR strategy, we continued to make good progress with the launch of a quantitative assessment of physical impacts of climate change according to the recommendations of TCFD. We released our commitment made as part of the Equal by 30 campaign to increase women in management positions and added diversity targets in variable compensation. Finally, we published our sustainability procurement charter and the assessment of ESG practices at and with our key suppliers.

Taking a look at our debt objective now, our corporate debt to total debt ratio decreased slightly compared to the end of 2021. We are pursuing to work to our objective to obtain an investment-grade rating and adjust accordingly the proportion of our corporate debt.

I will now cover the financial results for the quarter, starting with production. First quarter wind conditions were good in Canada, but slightly weaker in France. Wind production in Canada was 5% higher than anticipated production and 6% higher than in the same quarter last year. In France, wind production was 6% lower than anticipated and 4% lower than in the same quarter last year. Overall, total wind production for the quarter combining in Canada and France was in line with the anticipated production and 1% higher than last year.

Turning to hydro now, it was another strong quarter for our U.S. assets, with production 4% higher than anticipated and 39% higher than in the same quarter last year. Canadian hydro had production 6% higher than anticipated, but 18% lower than last year. Total production for the hydro sector was therefore 5% higher than anticipated and 10% higher than in the same quarter last year. Finally, production from solar assets was particularly strong at 15% higher than anticipated. In summary, total production for the quarter was 4% higher than anticipated and 2% higher than last year.

First quarter combined revenues were up 9% compared to last year, mostly due to the high pricing level in France and to the increase in wind production in Canada as well as hydro and solar production in the U.S. For the first quarter of 2022, combined operating income was up 16% and EBITDA at $183 million compared to $162 million for the same quarter of 2021, a 13% increase. We generated $137 million of consolidated net cash flows related to operating activities, 3% higher than last year's first quarter.

Cash flows from operations were $136 million in the first quarter, a $21 million increase over the same quarter last year. AFFO was $77 million compared to $60 million, a 28% increase. Our financial position remains solid with our net debt to total market capital ratio of 43% on March 31 compared to 48% on December 31, 2021.

In conclusion, it's a strong start for Boralex year-to-date. 2 significant partnerships, one in France and the other one in Quebec, will allow us to accelerate growth in these strong growing markets. 3 projects totaling 65 megawatts selected in the most recent request for proposal in France. These announcements, combined with the strong growth in our results, highlight the motivation and dedication of our teams to deliver our 2025 strategic plan. We are in excellent position to pursue our development in the context of particularly strong needs in the short and medium term for renewable energy. Thank you for your attention.

We are now ready to take your questions.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Mark Jarvi with CIBC Capital Markets.

[Mark Jarvi, analyst]

First question is just on the New York solar projects. In terms of the projects that you already have secured contracts, and the ones you bid, can you give us some outlines in terms of your plan for sourcing panels given obviously the ongoing tariff dispute in the U.S.?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, Mark. The situation, as you know, limits us to source panels today for this project. We have no short-term [ cliff notes ] on these projects, that's an important point. We will wait for the situation to settle down and understand what are the different possibilities. For sure we will have, like many industry players, we will have power price conversation with the off-taker because that will be needed. But on the other side, what I think is that specifically, New York state has a strong commitment for 2030, wants to achieve these commitments, and then they will have to solve the thing. We see some trends on the PPE generally speaking in the U.S., so I presume that we will see the same trend in New York. Essentially, that's what we do. We continue to develop the project because the fundamentals of the project are good. They are well located, well accepted and have -- we have applied for grid connection, and so we are optimizing that.

[Mark Jarvi, analyst]

A couple of questions to clarify. Have you secured any panels then for any of the projects that are in secured project list? And then the second, is this uncertainty impacting all the release of the current RFP results? And maybe give us an update on what the expected timing of those are.

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

The second question, sorry, Mark?

[Mark Jarvi, analyst]

Just on the pending RFP results, we -- I think we expected some announcement by now. We haven't had anything. Is the solar tariff dispute impacting that at all? Or do you have a sense of what's taking a bit longer to get the results on the pending RFP?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

On the first point, we have not secured panels for the 2019 project. And on the pending RFP, we should be very close to the disclosure, but I cannot say more. We are waiting for the official disclosure of the tender results.

[Mark Jarvi, analyst]

Okay. And then last question for me is just France, obviously very high spot prices. We heard from one of your peers about breaking contracts. What's your updated views on potentially an early termination and locking in some corporate or long-term or medium-term hedges? And then I guess second would be prospects for continued development of projects with corporate PPAs as opposed to the competitive tenders approach?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, that's clear that something which completely changed the situation in Europe and in France specifically because of the specific French constraint on nuclear. The answer is, we are working to optimize the contract with a small remaining tail and discussing to optimize this part. I think you have all the figures of the power. All the -- totally transparent, all the contracts do not have free termination, okay? Some of the contracts have some termination clauses which are not for free, so we need also to analyze, and we have this analysis and we will come back to the market when it will be accepted and settled also.

[Mark Jarvi, analyst]

And the second part of the question, in light of the high spot prices, are you seeing obviously expectations be either strong corporate PPA demand? Are you seeing opportunities to accelerate some projects and go that route versus the competitive RFP?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, sure. Sorry. In the past, corporations were essentially signing corporate PPA for greening their portfolio of procurement and for their ESG commitments. Today, it's clearly a question of economic interest and an economical point of view to have a part of their power, which is where the price is secure on a long-term basis. The answer is yes, we have a lot of demand, and I think it's very good news for us as a fundamental.

[Mark Jarvi, analyst]

And the expectation that we could hear some announcements at some point maybe this year?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

As you know, we are working hard to optimize our portfolio of sales. Prices are very high for the last quarter of the year and the next, the first quarter of next year. If we can do something before, we will.

[Operator]

And our next question comes from the line of Nelson Ng with RBC Capital Markets.

[Nelson Ng, analyst]

My first question is just a follow-up. Did you say that all -- so I guess some of your older French facilities have contracts that do have termination fees and others don't have break fees to break the PPA? And then for the ones where there are no termination fees, you're working and looking at opportunities to optimize those facilities? Is that right?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, the answer is yes to both questions, Nelson.

[Nelson Ng, analyst]

Okay. Got it. And then just the other, just kind of switching gears a bit, can you give a bit -- can you give an update on the Limekiln wind project? I saw the press release the other day, but can you just talk about I guess the expansion got a green light? And can you just talk about next steps for that project?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes. I think like we mentioned probably 5, 6 quarters in the past that there was a change to the transmission use of system charge. We had to decide at that time and the project was affected by that. We had decided to do 2 things. Firstly, is to increase the size of the turbines from the first project, the Limekiln project as we call it, at that time to reduce the COE, one thing. And on the other side, we have applied for an extension of the project. We have obtained the greenlight for the expansion already. We have good news to come on the optimization of the size of the turbine, and so we will be in the right position now to negotiate the corporate PPA. And during this period, the other good news is that the price in the UK has also increased a lot, so the demand for green electricity is even higher.

On the Limekiln project, why we have to not go further than the power, which is 105 megawatts, I think that's correct, yes. And it's because of this interconnection limitation. But we have the interconnection. We have paid for it in advance, the necessary payments, so we have an interconnection for the project which is also a limited resource, as you can imagine, in Northern Scotland. So next step is to obtain the modification of the size and to negotiate corporate PPA. We have already some conversations on that with the team and then finalize financing and procurement and all those things. And obviously, we're discussing with turbine suppliers about the supply. The power, I'm sorry, I said 105, it's 110 megawatts.

[Nelson Ng, analyst]

And then my next question relates to I guess France. All of your projects that are going to be completed or built over the next 2 years are located in France, and obviously, everyone is talking about project cost inflation. Can you talk about your project costs in France, whether you're seeing inflation there? And then I guess the other big picture is, does it really matter given that I believe some of those projects you will be receiving the merchant power price? I guess it probably doesn't really matter if you have to pay more to get those projects built.

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, essentially for all the projects which are already under construction, I confirmed like last quarter that we have no issue because we have frozen the cost at the start of the construction, and we have like not EPC contract, but lump-sum contracts for all the different parts of the construction. This is the first point and the first good news, and it's the case even for the large project of Moulins du Lohan. The second point of your question is interesting, and the answer is yes. We have optimized also, a little bit like Limekiln, we have optimized the size of different projects to obtain the building permit modification to have bigger turbines, lower COE at equal cost. And then since the cost has increased, we have still a project with acceptable return. And this will be somewhere the worst-case scenario because obviously, we are -- we have the experience since 5 years to sell to electricity merchants in France. And we will try to be as agile as possible to catch.

It could be through purely merchant for the first year and then corporate PPA after that or stay merchant a longer period or find a corporate PPA from day 1 at an acceptable price. All those things is underway. What it shows strategically is that our move toward and to commercialization, I think we mentioned years ago that we start this part thinking that it will be useful one day or another, and the day is today.

[Nelson Ng, analyst]

Okay. Got it. And then just one last question. Big picture on Quebec. Obviously, there's a lot of opportunities there, and you're also working with Hydro-Quebec and Energir. Can you talk about your strategy in Quebec, whether it will be working with your partners Energir and Hydro-Quebec? Whether you will be bidding on the upcoming RFPs with partners or on your own? Can you just big picture tell us about your approach there?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Essentially, we will, and we have announced that we have this important partnership with Energir and Hydro-Quebec for 300, 400-megawatt project. We will continue to work on the 2 possibilities, which is continue to try to propose projects to Hydro-Quebec in their 3-gigawatt, what they announced, 3 gigawatts of projects with partners. And also, obviously, the one different RFP, the one which is coming in July, and the other one, we will work on these projects and it is very good news. I think what has changed, if you go back from the RFP in Quebec years ago, is essentially the size of the turbine. When you bid in 2014, 2013, the size of the turbine was not what it is today. You can -- this opened at a reasonable COE, other area of Quebec, which is also very interesting.

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

If I can add to that comment also, Patrick mentioned the 300 and the 450. This is for this year, but also there's been announcement for 1,000 of wind after that and 1.3 for renewable energy. I think that -- and this is really separate from the 3,000 that Patrick mentioned. There are 2 processes right now in Quebec, so the market is really strong there.

[Nelson Ng, analyst]

And you might participate in obviously, more than one.

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes. In both. Again, we didn't stop. In 2018, when the market closed, we didn't stop developing. We continued to nurture our project. And today, we are ready to continue and to accelerate on that.

[Operator]

And our next question comes from the line of Sean Steuart with TD Securities.

[Sean Steuart, analyst]

A couple of questions. Just to follow-on on New York, wondering if you can remind us of when the next schedule for RFP is there? And does everything that's going on with trade restrictions, supply chain disruptions, etc., investigations, does that potentially delay the next RFP from your perspective or not?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

I think -- there is a small -- it's the same timing. First, it's the same timing every year, so that will be end of August, beginning of September. The point is, during the last 10 years in renewable, it was interesting to obtain a contract, develop the project. Because in between, the [ STOE ] has gone down a little bit. Today, with the inflation context and uncertainty context, since there is clear commitment and target from the different states, we think it's good to invest in the right projects with the right fundamentals and then bid when we are more closer to the possibility of financing and ordering the equipment. The strategy is potentially a little bit different potentially for some years, so that's what we will do. But since the fundamental remains strong, we think that developing the right projects will still create value for the company.

[Sean Steuart, analyst]

Second question I had is on Europe more broadly beyond France and what you're doing in the UK. Can you speak to just how strong the current spot price environment is in the continent in general? Does that accelerate potential interest in expanding your footprint out of France predominantly? Does it expedite your initiatives to broaden the footprint for the company in Europe?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, sorry, that's clearly in our strategic plan. And for sure, the signal of energy independence of Europe, which is important in every country, and the difficulty of the nuclear industry again, this is pushing -- I don't see when the -- yes, the price would not stay at the level of the next winter. But for the next 3 years, there will be a higher price. And I'm pretty sure that it will not land around EUR 40 in the near future. The answer is yes, we will know since we have closed the transaction in France, we have a good partner, the right partner in France, and this is -- the engine is working well there. The team will have more time to dedicate to look to opportunities outside France in the near future.

[Operator]

And our next question comes from the line of Rupert Merer with National Bank.

[Rupert Merer, analyst]

A couple of questions on France. Firstly, with the strong performance you have there right now, and maybe getting stronger if you can optimize the contracts, do you see any risk of windfall taxes? And if not, maybe if you can give us an update on what the outlook for cash taxes looks like right now? What's your tax horizon?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes. I'm not sure that this could take the form of a windfall tax, but you never know. What is -- just as the information is available, there was yesterday in [ La Croix ], the French newspaper, an article saying that the French state is trying to find a way to finance a part of what we call the [indiscernible], which is probably in English something that the limitation of the main industry tariff, by getting some of our improved revenue. They are thinking of the way to do it. It's clear they have not found it yet. And we have contracts which have been signed. We have a contractual agreement which clearly stipulates what is the situation today.

The answer is, there is a risk, but we will continue to work with the state if needed. If they bring compensation, serious compensation, there could be an industry agreement, but I'm not -- I don't know where it will go. I think globally there is -- we mentioned that with some previous question, the environment will remain good for us. It could be through corporate PPA, it could be through new projects, it could be ending existing projects. I think we need to be very nimble and also if there is any move from the French state, do what we have to do it.

[Rupert Merer, analyst]

Do you have a sense of where you sit on the horizon for cash taxes now just as normal course?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

We didn't hear your question right, Rupert. Could you just repeat it, please?

[Rupert Merer, analyst]

What is the outlook for cash taxes in the French business today? What do your tax shelters look like today?

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

We're taxable. We're paying taxes in France at the moment, Rupert.

[Rupert Merer, analyst]

Excellent. And then just one final one on France. A lot of your...

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

Sorry, just to add on there, Rupert. Just an add-on, it's mostly because of minimum taxes.

[Rupert Merer, analyst]

Okay, great. If I look at your construction in France, it's largely repowering today. How are you going to stagger the repowering? Are you able to let's say remove a few turbines at a time? Or are you taking the entire project offline while it gets rebuilt? And does this high spot power price impact your behaviors when you're repowering?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, that's a good point. We are trying to optimize -- when a contract comes to an end, we are trying to really optimize the duration of the repowering. In the past, when the price of the spot price was lower, it was not interesting, sorry, to remain in operation because -- and we tried to reduce the replacement time as much as possible. Today, we try to be flexible. On the other side, we have ordered turbine some months ago so we cannot -- we're not able to change everything. But the answer is, we are trying to manage our portfolio as much as possible. And we can -- could be possible linked with the supply chain difficulty, the high price that we maintain in existing assets for months or 2, 3 years. And then the authorization of repowering will remain available and valid and then do the repowering when it will be the time if the prices are going down. All this is on the table and analyzed by the team.

[Rupert Merer, analyst]

What does the disruption look like to the operating wind farms as you repower them? Do you take them off-line completely? Or are you able to sort of stagger the turbine replacement in a repowering?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes. It depends on the site. For example, in [ Seigneurie ] when we did it 2 years ago, it's on a ridge in the mountain, and we were not able to build foundations in another place because the authorization was like this because of many constraints. We were not able to build the foundation next to a wind turbine in operation. In [indiscernible], we are building the foundation not exactly at the same position. We are building the foundation while the existing turbines are still in operation. But when we start, we want to start to build, to erect a new turbine, we have to dismantle the other before obviously. We are really working on the logistics on that. And we have, I think it's we have now 4 projects in this situation, plus [indiscernible], so we have already experience. And we have experience also with suppliers who are buying the turbine back and reuse them as spare parts or to reinstall them. That's also something that has improved and I think we are now with a good organization of the team.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Ben Pham with BMO.

[Benjamin Pham, analyst]

I want to go back to your solar projects only because it's a relatively large chunk, 200 megawatts or so. Do you think that -- I know the tariff situation is unclear on timing and outcome, but when you work backwards here, permitting and construction, do you think there's still a chance that you can put those projects in by 2025?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, the answer is 100 megawatts of this project are in California. We are waiting for the upgrade of existing grid connection on existing solar site. When I look to the pattern of the Californian market the last weeks, I think they need more storage. That's my understanding because they have so much solar in some part of the day. But the grid operator to which we applied for grid connection modification is taking its time. So that's one thing. It will essentially depend on this part of the project authorization. Because we have the land, we know what we want to do, and we just have to get this confirmation. I think we applied almost 1 year ago, and at that time we said it was Q2 last year, and we said it's 18 months. There is some constraint on grid operator generally speaking in the U.S. with staff. They don't have the necessary staff to work on the queue, so this is slowing the oil industry. The other project, the 77-megawatt project, is in New York. It depends when we will have the commercial confirmation of this project. I think there is nothing which opposed, which is against the possibility to connect before 2025. But I cannot confirm today that we have everything to start on construction.

[Benjamin Pham, analyst]

This is the solar projects you're referencing, right, Patrick, is that?

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

Patrick was talking about the storage project. Was your question about storage or solar?

[Benjamin Pham, analyst]

Yes, apologies, it was about the solar projects, the Green Corners, Bald Mountain.

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Okay, sorry. The line is bad this morning, and so we have struggled to understand some of your words at times. Yes, the main point on these projects is, it will depend on the present inquiry on Asian supply in the U.S. I think we have to view it also that Boralex is diversified. We have wind projects in France. We have solar projects in France. We have wind projects in the U.K. We have wind projects in Quebec. If there is something which is delayed in the U.S. more than the confirmation by the end of this year about the new rules in the U.S., it will not hurt too much the company, and we will be able to restart when the market will really restart. I think that's -- we keep all the interest to the U.S., but I cannot guarantee you that we will be able to connect before 2025.

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

Ben, sorry, I can add a little bit. There's one more thing I'd like to add on the U.S. market. Given our financial position, given our cash position, this sort of market volatility and disruption to a certain extent is, in our view, also an opportunity for us as less capitalized, less well-capitalized companies may find that they are struggling a little bit in the short term. Certainly, that could be an opportunity for us to look at some of these companies and have discussions with some of these developers for our medium-term growth.

[Benjamin Pham, analyst]

It sounds like it goes to my second question. If you were to take a very pessimistic view of U.S. solar, let's say you just wiped out all of these projects and you assume there's no U.S. solar growth for Boralex, do you think you have enough stuff in Quebec? I'm not saying that happens, Patrick, I'm just saying I guess my question is more, do you have enough projects in France and Quebec and maybe M&A to get to 4,400 megawatts?

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

Yes, yes, yes. The answer is yes. And we will -- I think there was a question to see do we want to accelerate elsewhere in Europe? This is also part of the strategy. There is other -- there is potentially other opportunity in other provinces in Canada if we think that the U.S. market is slowing down for a period. On the long term, the U.S. market will be a good market for sure. Like it happened in Canada in 2018, we continue to develop our wind projects, and today we are very happy to have them already almost developed. I think it's the same diversification of risk.

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Maybe if I could add one point on that, it's the fact that we need to continue to develop those projects, optimize the projects, look at opportunities like Bruno said in the U.S., because there will be some opportunities, and we have the capital in place to act rapidly. We're not giving up on this market, that's for sure.

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

No. And when we have conversation with NYSERDA the last weeks, they are aware obviously of the situation. They are committed for 2030 70% of green electricity. And they are considering Boralex as a very good developer in terms of how we consult local communities, municipalities and how we develop our projects because they want projects to be connected in the next year. I think we have signaled that it's good to continue to develop and we are, we have the right team to do this.

[Operator]

And our next question comes from the line of Andrew Kuske with Credit Suisse.

[Andrew Kuske, analyst]

Maybe if you could just give us some perspective on how your risk management approach has changed or maybe evolved most recently. And I guess there's a few elements to it. There's obviously just from a financial standpoint, with the volatility that we've seen, maybe heightened volatility for a number of reasons. And then also from an operational standpoint, as you're dealing with supply chain issues from the OEMs. And then just a bunch of issues that happened in the industry from an EPC standpoint. Any thoughts on risk management would be appreciated.

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

I think Patrick alluded a bit to it, but certainly, from an operating and contracting position, we're very nimble and have constant discussions with suppliers. Clearly, our financial position and our large projects that are coming up are a plus in those discussions and having those discussions being able to secure the equipment when we need it. We contract more quickly from that perspective. And from a financial perspective, we also look at how we can, for example, hedge interest rates quicker earlier in the process because we see those potential additional hikes in interest rates coming.

That's certainly a few things we've done. We're in a good position having quite a bit of our portfolio on long-term fixed rates on our debt positions. And we continue to optimize on that front. Also, reducing our debt with the cash we've received recently, we'll reduce some of our most expensive debt, so we're reducing our financial burden. Other areas of risk management, these are some of the key ones, making sure that we secure the equipment quickly and that we manage our financial exposure. That would be the 2 key points that come to mind.

[Andrew Kuske, analyst]

That's helpful. And then maybe just a kind of related question. When you think about just your hybrid model that you've been operating on the maintenance, where you've had some done externally, some done in-house. I think in the MD&A, you pulled a few more in-house. Do you see this as a growing competitive advantage? Or is it just you get better price tension with some of your OEM providers?

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

Essentially, it's a question of cost of optimization, of production and revenue, and also on the risk to have big maintenance teams internally because we have to manage all those things. We have internalized for a very long period in France. And then last year, we have externalized to [ Vestas ], the Vestas French fleet because we thought that the contract and the risk sharing in the contract and how we can transfer a part of this risk to Vestas and have the right performance of maintenance from them was good. But we are continuing to internalize other maintenance, the maintenance of other assets. Typically the Enercon ones in Canada and in France that the move is all Enercon because there is a gap between cost and performance by doing ourselves and cost and performance by remaining in a contract with Enercon. And I think in the environment of high price, 0.5% of availability at the right time has more value than 0.5% of availability 1 year ago or under contract. We are looking to maintenance also differently on contracted assets and merchant assets.

[Operator]

And our next question comes from the line of Nick Boychuk with Cormark Securities.

[Nicholas Boychuk, analyst]

Just 2 quick follow-ups. First, on storage, Patrick, you mentioned that the California opportunities could get developed by 2025. Are you seeing any additional demand though for this type of baseload generation or storage capabilities? Any other geographies or project types that you could add to backlog?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes. The answer is not in Europe. But yes, in North America. And every place -- there is a need for storage in New York State or New York grid. There could be a need of storage in Quebec for peak shaving, which is not the same than displacing solar production in California. And I presume with my experience of a grid operator that in Ontario, there will be need for storage also. And there is one project which is known, which is not a Boralex project, but which is developing in Ontario. The answer is yes in North America I think there will be more need of storage. Specifically, with new wind and solar capacity connecting to the grid and the difficulty of doing big interconnections between the different systems which are interconnected, but not meshed like the one in Europe.

[Nicholas Boychuk, analyst]

Got it. And then, Bruno, coming back to your question about, or your comment about the M&A opportunities, is something I was going to ask. Are there any other details you can provide on the types of projects that you're currently seeing that could be undercapitalized or that could be attractive opportunities for you, either by fuel type or region in the U.S.?

[Bruno Guilmette, executive]

We're really trying to stay as opportunistic as we can, looking at targets. As we did talk today a little bit or quite a bit about the changes in the market in the U.S., especially. We're trying to stay open by the combination of assets that we can optimize, improve operating or near operation. And as I mentioned, development pipeline which could come under pressure at the right price for acquisition because we want to stay disciplined on acquisitions. This is what we're looking for. Size is also a factor that we look at when we look at acquisitions. Has to be the right size for us. And markets, our team is focused on looking at certain states. Yes, we've seen quite a bit of M&A opportunities lately, and we expect that to only increase in the coming months, especially in the U.S., but we're also looking at possibilities to expand in other European markets, as Patrick mentioned before. New development, but also on M&A.

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

We have completed the transaction with our partner in Europe, in France, EIP. And basically, we have the cash in the bank by now. And we are certainly an attractive buyer for these kinds of assets and companies that we've talked about.

[Operator]

And our next question comes from the line of Naji Baydoun with iA Capital Markets.

[Naji Baydoun, analyst]

Just wanted to go back to Quebec. Can you just clarify what the expectations are for the [ Dunaj ] projects with Energir and Hydro-Quebec? Are those going to be developed outside the RFP processes or in addition to those?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, yes, it's a [indiscernible] project we have developed and we have terms of agreement on the power price for these 3 different projects. And this is totally outside of the RFP. It is inside the 3,000 megawatts that Hydro-Quebec announced as the partnership they want to do with say it could be a private player, could be first nations, could be municipality. But we have signed a big part of this.

[Naji Baydoun, analyst]

That's fantastic. And I think it's a 1/3 partnership in each project and I think in some of your filings, you had them potentially starting construction at the end of next year with commissioning sometime at the end of 2025. It sounds like you already have the power price agreements mostly locked up. What are some of the next steps or the milestones for those projects?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Essentially, the project will be -- the construction will be triggered by 2 things. It is first obtaining the building authorization and this consultation process is underway. And the second point is the confirmation by Hydro-Quebec of their need. And they could trigger one project and then the second one and then the third one depending on their need. But it's on their table, it's available, and we are ready. And we have obviously, since it's a significant volume of turbine power, at least turbines, it's less because it's less big turbine today, but it's a significant amount of power. We have the interest of the large turbine OEM, and we're discussing directly at the top of these companies to settle the contractor's project when it will be needed by Hydro-Quebec.

[Naji Baydoun, analyst]

Understood. You could develop them sort of in a staggered fashion, one after the other, and maybe sort of FID sometime later this year or early next year once you have all the authorizations and the confirmations?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, yes.

[Naji Baydoun, analyst]

Okay. Just one last question for me. Obviously, you're going to start out more capacity coming offline or -- not offline, sorry, off contract, in the next few years. And I think in the past, you talked about trying to find a balanced mix of repowering the scope of PPAs. But now with the current power price environment, how has that dynamic sort of impacted how you approach those types of decisions for the projects coming off contracts?

[Patrick Decostre, executive]

Yes, it's a good point. Essentially, the development costs of obtaining modified authorization to repower a site is not very, very big. And this is one of the interests of repowering. That being said, I think and we think we should continue to invest in this development cause to have an option. And when we have a repowering authorization, it lasts for -- it is powered for a certain period, potentially 3 years I think, but we can extend that also. And with the European situation, there is also a clear signal from the European Commission. I think it comes just yesterday to say that they will push globally in Europe the different countries to accelerate repowering authorization and shortened the time of construction.

On the other side, obviously, if the price remained over EUR 200 per megawatt hour, it's better to operate the existing site as long as the price remains there. I don't think it's sustainable to have a price over EUR 200 per megawatt hour for years. It will go down one day or another. And at that time, we will have the possibility to trigger, the option to trigger the repowering quickly because we have the authorization with the permit with us. And also, we are discussing with off takers for the repowering because it could be through tenders or tariff system like today, but it could be also corporate PPA.

[Naji Baydoun, analyst]

I guess what you're saying is repowering at a very small cost is like a free option, and that gives you more optionality in what you want to do with those assets within a certain time window of several years? Okay, got it.

[Operator]

And I'm showing no further questions at this time. And I would like to turn the conference back over to Stephane Milot for any further remarks.

[Stéphane Milot, executive]

All right. Thank you, everyone, for your attention. If you have any additional questions, please call me at [phone]. I'll make sure we quickly answer your questions. Our next call to announce second quarter results will be on Wednesday, August 3 at 11:00 a.m. I hope you all help you all remain healthy. Have a nice day, everyone. Thank you.

[Operator]

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.