Good afteroon, this is the Chorus Call Conference Operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the ERG Q2 2023 results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the presentation, there wnill be an opportunity to ask questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Paolo Merli, CEO of ERG. Please go ahead, sir.
Everyone. Welcome to our Q2 and first results presentation. Here with me, as usual, is our CFO, Michele Pedemonte, who will run you through our business performance over the period in more detail. Let's get started with the overview of results over the period. I am on page four. Numbers here are based on continuing operations, thus excluding CCGT from the scope. As you know, we reached an agreement for its disposal on June 29th. For the sake of clarity, figures are also presented net of clawback measures and windfall taxes, despite the fact that those measures are extraordinary and temporary. Throughout the presentation, we will provide detailed disclosure of the effects of those measures.
In a nutshell, I would say results were slightly below year-on-year at the EBITDA level, to be honest, substantially lower than our budget, mainly due to tougher wind conditions over the Q2. Significantly lower than the historical average, against a backdrop of lower electricity prices. Those effects were only partly offset by the larger installed capacity, that suffered the same poor windiness. EBITDA in the H1 of the year was EUR 263 million, slightly down year-on-year. The larger installed capacity, brought up by M&A and organic growth, contributed by around EUR 37 million. This contribution was more than offset by lower actual sales price and lower wind availability, more or less across the whole of Europe, but in particular, in Italy and in the U.K.. Solar in the period showed slightly better volumes due to stronger irradiation.
Clawback at the EBITDA level during the period were EUR 7 million against EUR 5 million over the same period last year. Michele will elaborate more on those figures in a while. Notwithstanding those trends, results at bottom line proved very satisfactory, with adjusted net income at EUR 116 million, up for more than 40% year-on-year, thanks to the reduction of 22 windfall taxes and to lower, significantly lower financial charges deriving from our cash management in a context of rising interest rates. Flowbacks, at the bottom line level were EUR 6 million, basically the same as operating level, net of the relevant fiscal effects, against EUR 40 million in the H1 of 2022, when we had also a wind tax in Italy.
CapEx in the period amounted to EUR 311 million, higher than the same period last year, boosted by M&A. The remaining CapEx were related to the advancements of our assets under construction, both repowering and greenfield projects. As far as repowering, in the period, we completed the construction of the first repowering project. Net financial position at year-end was EUR 1.5 billion, up versus slightly above EUR 1.4 billion at the end of 2022, mainly reflecting the dividend payment for EUR 150 million, the investments in excess of EUR 300 million, just commented, mostly compensated by the operating cash flow generation.
All in all, in light of this weaker business environment that I just described, a very low wind and lower, much lower electricity prices, the economics of the group proved to be resilient, with stronger generation. Not immune, but resilient. Let's move on. Now, we comment on our main achievements during the quarter. I'm on page number five. First of all, it's worth start with the agreement we reached with Achernar for the disposal of our CCGT, which was a top target for the year. We expect the closing to take place by the end of the year, as already communicated, after the completion of the Golden Power procedures, which I updated you, we have already filed for.
This is a very important step for the transformation of ERG into a pure renewable player, and a crucial step for the Net Zero target, which has been officially approved in the meantime by SBTi. We are also moving forward with the expansion of our portfolio in Europe. We started up our first powering project in Italy, Partinico- Monreale, 42 MW. We are nowadays finalizing also the installation of another repowering project, Camporeale, which should be in operation soon. We made an important step ahead, our diversification in solar in Spain, with the acquisition of 149 MW under construction, in the very, very last phase of construction, and 25 MW just enter into operation.
We also made important steps with the development of our pipeline, as we got the building permit, or like we call in, in Italy, Autorizzazione Unica, for a 115 MW wind repowering project, so one of the largest projects we have in our pipeline. We have another 30 MW of fully authorized and now ready to build in Germany, 18 MW fully permitted and already awarded in a recent auction in France. Our ESG path is continuing successfully, I would say, with important recognition on all the pillars of our strategy. We are particularly proud to have obtained the Net Zero certification from SBTi. We have been promoted by MSCI to triple A, we have been included in the top 10 in the 2023 Integrated Governance Index.
Last but not least, ERG joined the NASDAQ Sustainable Bond Network, an important recognition of ERG's financing strategy focused on green instruments. Over to Michele for his comments on Q2 and first results.
Thank you, Paolo. First of all, please note that all figures presented here are net of clawback windfall profit taxes implemented by various European governments. Also, the 2022 data are represented in the same pages. Now, let's start with an overview of unitary revenues of the period. In the Q2, electricity market prices have been strongly lower than previous year. This trend has partially influenced our all-in unitary revenues, which are mainly dependent on incentives, feed-in schemes, long-term PPA, and hedging made in line with our risk policy or by other revenues components. In Italy, for example, unitary revenues are influenced by the value of the incentive on the majority of our assets, which is null in 2023, and lowered by EUR 42 per MWh versus previous year.
While on the market, we quote a price higher than previous year, thanks to our hedging policy. All in all, we have a slight decline in unitary revenues from EUR 102 MWh- EUR 117 MWh. Please note that the structure of the Italian green incentive will allow recovery of the electricity prices below EUR 180 MWh of this year, in next year. This will be a material positive upside, expected in 2024. In France, the large majority of our assets operate under FIT scheme, without exposure to market prices. The green price is lower than Q2 2022, because the few assets and merchant prices in 2022 were influenced by an higher market scenario.
In Germany, the one-way tariff structure, coupled with some short-term hedging, allow us to capture higher prices than previous year. East Europe, unitary revenues decreased in Q2, driven by Romania and Bulgaria, mainly due to lower merchant prices. In U.K., the decrease in all-in unitary revenues, minus, minus EUR 80 MWh , are related to PPA price, which is lower than the stock market price captured by our Northern Ireland assets in Q2 2022, during the first months of production of the plant. As regard as the solar all-in unit revenues, we see values to increase in Q2 in Italy, thanks to the new assets consolidated from July 2022, versus the previous year at fixed prices, because 100% of the production was hedged.
In Spain, where our assets have a tariff mechanism that operates as a floor, all-in prices are, are, are slightly lower and reflects lower market scenario. Now focus on production. In first half, productions reached 3 TWh, 0.3 TWh, higher than previous year, mainly due to perimeter effects. Production coming from abroad represent more than 50% of the group, group's total productions. As regard the Q2, we have in Italy, 565 GWh , + 4, 5, 4% year-on-year, only thanks to perimeter effect, + 75 GWh from wind and solar asset acquired in 2022. Then a small contribution from repowering plant and the renovation engine.
Perimeter effect is almost completely offset by lower wind conditions, well below the historical average, and worse irradiation in comparison to Q2 2022. In France, we have 254 GWh, +13% year-on-year, thanks to better wind condition in comparison to the very poor Q2 2022. In Germany, 103 GWh, -9% because of lower wind condition. In Eastern Europe, volumes higher than Q2 2022, +17%, mainly due to assets entering operation in 2022 in Poland. In U.K. and Nordics, we recorded 85 GWh, +74% year-on-year, thanks to the asset energized by the end of 2022 and early 2023 in Scotland and Sweden.
Production in Scotland and Northern Ireland, well below the expectations, due to very poor wind in the region in the quarter. Low production also in Sweden, due to also prolong the test and commission, test and commissioning activities on our Furuby wind farm, in order to solve some technical issues encountered during startup activities. In Spain, -7%, mainly due to worse irradiation with respect to Q2 last year. We are now at page nine. In the Q2 of the year, we have an overall EBITDA net of clawback, equal to EUR 103 million. Slightly lower than the one of Q2 2022, mainly due to lower capture price than previous year, where prices benefited from extremely high market scenario and lower production, in particular in Italy, partially offset by perimeter effect.
In Italy, the EBITDA is EUR 67 million, in line with last year, mainly due to perimeter effect, offset by the lower value of the incentive, which is zero in 2023, and worse weather conditions, both on wind and solar asset. In France, the EBITDA is EUR 14 million, benefiting from better wind condition and to a perimeter effect of EUR 1 million. In Germany, the EBITDA is EUR 8 million, slightly lower than previous year, mainly due to lower production in the period. In Eastern Europe, the EBITDA is EUR 11 million, lower than Q2 2022, mainly due to lower sales price, partially offset by perimeter effect in Poland. In U.K. and Nordics, the EBITDA is lower than last year, mainly due to the PPA, at a lower price than previous year market scenario, partially offset by perimeter effect.
In Spain, EBITDA is EUR 5 million, lower than last year, mainly due to lower capture price and lower production. H1 EBITDA is EUR 263 million, lower than previous year, mainly due to weaker weather conditions, partially offset by a perimeter effect. In 2023, almost 50% of EBITDA comes from assets outside of Italy. Now, a brief overview of investment in the period. In the H1, we invested EUR 311 million, an amount which is higher than the one invested in the H1 of last year. About EUR 182 million are related to many projects in Spain in the Q2 of the year, for about 149 MW of asset under construction and to 25 MW of about the solar plant in operation.
This acquisition happened just in the last day of the, of the quarter. About $125 million are related to organic CapEx in wind. In particular, we have $92 million of CapEx in Italy for wind repairing, repowering projects and greenfield in Sicily. Let's now move on to financial, commenting on profit and loss on a recurring basis. In the Q2, we have net financial charges at $2 million, versus $6 million in the Q2 of last year, mainly influenced by liquidity remuneration, in a scenario of interest rate increase, with the debt structure almost completely at fixed rate. Tax rate in the quarter is 24%, versus a 69% of the Q2 of last year, which included the Italian windfall profit taxes.
As a result of all of this, the adjusted results on continued operation of the quarter amount to EUR 37 million, versus EUR 15 million of the Q2 of last year. That included the extra-profit taxes for a total amount of EUR 22 million-EUR 23 million. The adjusted results on continuous operation of the first half amounts to EUR 116 million, including EUR 7 million of global measures, versus EUR 82 million in 2022. CCGT is consolidated in the discontinued items. In this chart, you can find a summary of effects of the clawback measures and windfall taxes affecting our figures. The impact on EBITDA and net profit in the Q2 is negligible, because of the sharp electricity price decrease in the H1, and it refers mainly to Eastern Europe.
In Romania, the government set a compulsory PPA mechanism at the cap price of EUR 90 MWh which has the same substantial effect of a clawback measure, it is not reported here. Comparing net profit, net of clawback, we see a substantial increase versus last year because it is affected by Italian wind power. The H1 , the impact of clawback measures on EBITDA is EUR 7 million and EUR 6 million on net profits. Finally, let's take a look at the cash flow statement and the net financial position for the H1 .
The net financial debt close at EUR 1.5 billion, EUR 82 million higher than the end of 2022, driven by a solid cash generation from EBITDA and a positive net working capital movement for EUR 61 million, mainly linked to a timing effect from hedging operation done in the period. These impacts are netted by the already commented investment in the period and the dividend payment for EUR 152 million. The net financial position includes EUR 22 million-EUR 23 million, due to the mark to market of derivatives on commodities. I think I have touched all the relevant items. Thank you for your attention. I will now hand over to Paolo for his final remarks.
Thanks, Michele. Before going through guidance for 2023, let me refresh our target for the year in terms of installed capacity. As you can see from the chart, through a combination of M&A and organic growth, we expect to add further 369 MW by year-end, which is consistent with the trajectory of the business plan. It's worth mentioning that out of these 369 MW, a total of 160 are already fully operational, and the remainder is under construction. The growth will continue to be a driver of our results, in particular, as of 2024, when we expect all those assets to reach their full potential on a full year basis.
Now, a deep dive on assets under construction, the perimeter enlarged compared to the last update, though we experienced a few months delay for basically all our assets under construction, given a supply chain scenario that remains challenging. We are talking about a few months. Of course, it must be said that these few months had an impact on our operating figures in the H1. Despite all this, we are moving on with our developments, which will make our portfolio stronger ahead of next year, so with a higher degree of geographical and technological diversification. A matter of fact, new assets are spread out between Italy, France, U.K., Germany, and Spain, both wind and solar. In a nutshell, we are moving forward in line with our objectives. Guidance. Let's see the guidance for 2023.
In light of the fact, as I already explained, that Q2 results were significantly poorer than our budget, was likely down year-over-year, but significantly lower than what we expected, and our budget, basically, which our previous guidance was based on. Mainly as a result of extraordinary weaker wind conditions all across Europe, in particular in June, and especially in Italy and U.K., we revised the guidance on EBITDA downwards, while maintaining guidance on CapEx and net financial position. Given that, all in all, we expect cash flow to be confirmed, aligned with our previous expectations, as lower financial charges and some other working capital items will offset the poorer operating margins. Let me be more precise.
We still expect, at today, to be at the lower end of the previous guidance, EUR 500 million-EUR 550 million, but we felt it was more transparent to recalibrate the guidance range downward for the reasons I've just explained. To summarize, EBITDA is moving from EUR 500 million-EUR 550 million to EUR 485 million-EUR 520 million. Let me remind you that 2023 guidance is net of clawbacks. CapEx range remains in the range of EUR 500-EUR 600 million, unchanged, as, net financial position is still expected within a range of EUR 1.4 billion-EUR 1.5 billion. Thank you very much for listening, and we are now ready to take your questions.
Thank you. This is the Chorus Call Conference operator. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and two. We kindly ask to use handsets when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. The first question is from Enrico Bartoli with Mediobanca. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon, and thanks for taking my question. First one is on the guidance. If you can elaborate a bit more on the bridge that led to this reduction, if it's only related to volumes or if there is also some impact from the declining scenario for the spot power prices or some impact on your hedges for 2023? Second one is if you can update us on the hedging level in terms of volumes and prices for 2023, and possibly also for 2024? Also a general question on, let's say, the regulatory scenario?
I think that the government is implementing some revision of the maximum prices in the auction system, what visibility you have on that, and what impact you expect on participation to the auctions and on your commercial policy, if the update is consistent with the market conditions currently, or is still not enough compared to what the PPA market can achieve in Italy? Thank you.
Good afternoon, Enrico, and to everyone. Say, the guidance, let me elaborate a little bit more, is reflecting mostly the lower production in the Q2. I think you have seen the TSO monthly report, in June was a very tough month in Italy, particularly in Italy, but also in the U.K.. The whole wind production in Italy was down 19% year-on-year in the month, in June, which means, I mean the country, not ours, which means more than 20% lower year-on-year, if adjusted to take in consideration the higher installed installed capacity. Most of the EUR 20 million, more or less, we have lost, coming from volumes, was in Italy.
The, the price effect was very limited, to be honest, because 2023, most of the production is covered with hedging, PPAs, CFD, tariffs, and so on. Was a very limited impact, say a few millions EUR during the quarter. But please consider also the positive effect of having this year lower merchant price, because as you know, the value of the incentive in Italy is inversely correlated to the energy, to the electricity price. We expect next year to more than recover the impact from the energy price in 2023, because according to the very latest forward for the calendar year, the value of incentive next year should be in the region of EUR 40 MWh , while in 2023, it's zero.
These are based on the volume we still have under this kind of incentive scheme, means that in 2024, we should recover roughly EUR 40 million in terms, in terms of EBITDA, just for this effect. That's why it seems to me a little bit overly excessive the reaction of the market to this EUR 25 million, but it's not in my power to change it.
Coming to the second questions, the hedging, say, if you refer just to the financial hedging, we are talking about a number that is in the region of EUR 100 , more or less, for 2023, because it's a mixture of some hedging done and performed in 2022, plus some hedging that we inherited, say, from the previous year. EUR 100 . For 2024, the value of the financial hedging is in the region of EUR 150 . Much higher because also, if you look at the forward market, you can see that the markets still expect higher electricity prices during the winter, and especially in the Q1 of 2024.
Last point, the auction system, yes, you are right, it's an amendment that was already approved by the parliament, which basically revised upwards the base price for the next auction, still related to the FER Decree 2019, with the inflation, and in other terms, it means that the base price will move from 65, the current EUR 65- EUR 76 per MWh. Is it enough? I don't think so. In fact, we are working, we are working on the PPA side, because we think the PPA market is now giving numbers that are much higher than than those, and more consistent, say, with the with the merchant prices going forward.
It's anyway, a step ahead, and we think in the new decree, the mechanism that to regulate, to say the auction, will be farther revised upward. That's my personal opinion. That's what we are working for with institutions here in Italy in particular. Because in France and Germany, they have already revised significantly up these tariffs. In France and in Germany, we are on average in the area of EUR 90, because in Germany, don't forget, there is a value, a nominal value, which is 75, but then there is this correction factor that increases, especially for wind, the final tariff, sometimes in excess of EUR 100 per megawatt. So the Italian one, 75, is still well below those, those levels.
I hope to have touched all, all your points, Enrico.
Yeah, yeah, thank you. Just, just a quick follow-up on, on the hedges. When you talk about the financial hedges, is it possible to have an idea of what portion of total revenues you are referring to? Of course, they don't take into account the, the feed-in tariffs and everything else.
Must say it's limited. It's all 0.5 TWh or something like that, because most of our production is already covered by tariffs, PPA or CFD, what else? Let me say, 0.5 TWh is a good estimate for 2024. This amount could be further increased throughout the few months remaining in the forthcoming months, let me say, and even when talking now, the forward for 2024 are in the level of EUR 140- EUR 145 MWh . We should consolidate this number.
Okay, perfect. Thanks a lot.
You're welcome.
The next question is from Roberto Letizia with Equita. Please go ahead.
Yes, thanks for taking my question. The first one is a follow-up on this 0.5 TWh hedging. Is the 0.5 just for 2023, or is it also for 2024? Or maybe 2024 is slightly less. What's the total you may actually reach for 2024? Is it 1 TWh? Is it something like that? Because some of the assets goes out from the incentives, so maybe you're, on 2024, you have a larger space for doing hedging at very good price. How much instead? Again, a follow-up on the previous question, but you talked about the loss of productions. I was wondering how much instead of the guidance reduction comes from the few months delay that you mentioned in terms of installation going forward?
A clarification again on the guidance in the sense of the impact from the clawbacks. Months ago, when we talked about the net guidance for 2023, you mentioned a very high level of the impact from clawbacks that have not materialized in the first and Q2, and I guess actually the overall level of hedging has not changed dramatically versus when you gave this amount. I cannot reconcile actually, now that, for example, Italy have no longer the clawback in place, and even some other country, what do you expect now in terms of potential changes versus that impact on clawback, which if I'm not remember wrong, that was EUR 90 million, but maybe I'm wrong, I don't recall it correctly.
Please, if you can, start to elaborate a little bit on 24, at least on bridge of the components that will occur next year to let understand the general sense of the growth in, in, in EBITDA that we may look forward for, for next year. And a final one, it's more a view on the PPA market development versus the volatility that we are seeing now in power prices at peak hour of productions, especially in Spain. I was wondering if you see any slowdown, for example, in the ability to close down PPA, because market participants are actually looking at that volatility at peak hours, so there are increasing competition on, on the market prices, and it is becoming more difficult to sign PPA or not?
If you can give us a view on this topic, that would be very helpful. Thanks a lot.
Okay, the 0.5 TWh is just related to 2024. In 2023, we had almost 0.7-0.8 TWh fully covered by financial hedging. This 0.5 could be go up to almost 1 TWh by the end of the year because we have a policy to cover progressively part of this volume throughout throughout the year. Some each week, let me say, and the current value of this hedging is in the region of EUR 140. The average at today is EUR 150, now the forward are more in the region of EUR 104, something like that. Anyway, higher than the one we had, and we still have for the current year.
The delay has a limited impact on our financials, just EUR 2 million, because all in all, we are talking about just a few months of delay for each projects. To be honest, it's a little bit challenging the environment in the BOP or in the construction, but anyway, we are managing it satisfactorily. Couple of million, I would say, the delay effect over the next 6 months, and mainly related to Partinico- Monreale, that enter into operation 3 months later than what we expected in our budget. Also Camporeale, which is the second powering project that was expected to enter into operation in May, and now is expected to be completed by the end of August.
We have started just a few weeks ago, the erection of the wind turbines, so we are going on. We are organizing a field trip in October to visit the two wind farm, because they are one in front of the other in Sicily, wonderful wind farms. I would say limited impact, and the full potential of all these assets will be seen in 2024. Going to your questions about the expectation for 2024, I'm not going to provide any number, any precise number, but let me say that for several reasons, first of all, the reversal of the incentive in Italy, I said, this should account for EUR 40 million, more or less, of EBITDA, and this is a price effect already very visible.
We will have, we will enjoy the full potential of the roughly 400 MW that entered progressively into operation in the current year. This is a very other important contribution to our EBITDA. If you add to this, the fact that, say, the hedging price and the forward prices for next year are stronger than the one we are experiencing right now, we can expect surely an important growth. That's, that's our current expectation. Clawbacks, sorry, you asked me for clawbacks. Yes, it's not a secret.
The, the TTF gas price, which is the one that is the price setter for the market, because still, the gas technology is the one that set, the, the price, on all the merchant prices across Europe, has totally collapsed, compared to a few months ago. If you open the site of the... I have in front of me, right now, the price in August is EUR 26 per megawatt hour. Last year was EUR 250 per megawatt hour. That's, the, the, the reduction in clawbacks measures, simply reflects, the reduction in energy prices.
Again, given the structure of our revenues, 80%-85% covered by all these mixture of price route to market mechanisms, it's the, our PNL is very resilient, to say, compared to merchant prices. What is more important are the volume. I would exclude that the, what we experienced in these months should be extrapolated as a trend for the future. We have been analyzing from any point of view... the windiness over the last 20 years, and also in the past, we have seen a cycle of one, two year of low wind, then followed by stronger couple of years of wind.
I tend to see as a one-off, that is part of the business, the fact that wind is not there for a few months. You, you, you were right, in, in the budget, we expected clawback measure in the region of EUR 90 million, something like that. Now we do not expect any further on top of the EUR 7 million we have already accounted in the H1, because the prices right now are mostly below the price cap. Some measure are off, in Italy, for instance, the government confirmed its intention not to renew these extraordinary measure, that in fact, they were supposed to be temporary. I think I touched the-
PPA.
The PPA. PPA, I say, we are working on further negotiation. From my, from our point of view, we still have corporate eager to secure energy in the longer term. You see, we have closed a couple of PPA recently with EssilorLuxottica, with TIM, and now we are working on some others. For sure, the volatility of the market is a complexity to manage, to be managed, but I would say, I would say we do not see particularly, say, less interest in PPA. For sure, I think you were referring to the profile effect, in particular for solar, in particular in Spain. That's for sure, a point of attention, but has already been included in our estimates when we are buying the assets.
As regards our assets, particularly the 149 MW , which should enter into operation by the end of the year, this is already covered by pay-as-produced PPA, so we are not in a hurry to find other PPA in Spain.
Yeah. Sorry, sorry, Paolo, really a quick, a quick follow-up on the 2024. Just adding, maybe you correct me. Next year, you're gonna have EUR 20-25 million, let's, let's mention this way, from wind normalization. Say, assuming wind resource or generally resource normalization, that should be EUR 20 million-EUR 25 million. You have some EUR 40 million from the Green Certificate. You have 400 MW, let's take it as a half, because you got already a half contribution this year, but less than half contribution on, on that. You have, let's say, at least 200MW full contribution, plus you have the 1 TWh, say, that has at least EUR 40 per megawatt hour higher prices. Am I counting correct? Is there any negative? This sum up maybe to, I don't know, EUR 70 million higher EBITDA.
I don't know, something like 580 next year. I don't know if I'm losing something on the way.
No, I think you are a good, analyst, and what you did, what you did yourself, make a lot of sense.
Okay, thanks a lot.
The next question is from Naisheng Cui with Barclays. Please go ahead.
Hey, good afternoon, Paolo and Michele. Thanks for taking my questions. 3, if that's okay. First one is on project delay. Just want to understand, what exactly caused the delay? Paolo, I think you mentioned it's construction. Just want to understand what exactly caused the delay, and what have you done to prevent further delays. Second question is on the CCGT asset disposal. I understand you sold at a higher price this year versus last year on the, on the back of a worse micro. Just wonder what have changed this time, and how, how did you achieve such good price this year? Third question is on CapEx. Just want to understand if your CapEx on a per megawatt basis is still within your budget plan, given the project delays, et cetera. Thank you.
Okay, now, the, your questions are very clear. Max, say we are talking about a few months, three months, delay, nothing, very rocket science, let me say. Delays are related, maybe because during the construction, you find some obstacle in the field, which is not having a major overrun cost. All in all, we can confirm our, our, our budget, because in our plan, we already reconsidered and revised upwards the CapEx for the current challenging environment. No, I, I would say nothing of worrying from, for these few months delay, I repeat.
So for instance, in Sicily, when you got the, the authorization, the full authorization from the authority from the region, there are 30, 40 entities that they have to express, the new law, or they go ahead with the works. Then, they come to the site, and they say, "Okay, this little installation, instead of putting here, you put in there." Minor things, with not major costs associated, that cause a delay. For instance, in Partinico- Monreale, we waited 2 months, the permission to make our tracker, the, the, the, the trucks that were bringing the, the wind turbines to pass on a bridge.
We waited for a couple of months, the permission from ANAS, which is the authority controlling the viability and the motorways. That's kind of reasons that brought to this delay, but nothing very important. The CapEx plan, yes, I can confirm it. In some project, maybe we have something more, in some project we are saving a little bit, but still, for sure, it's a point of attention. That's, that's truly a point. By the CCGT, the price is what you have seen in the press release, consider that is made of several items when compared to Enel, because, for instance, there is a unexpected tax asset that, at that time, wasn't spotted.
This is related to a regulation that was issued after the Enel agreement, and is related to the fact that the gas consumers, such as the CCGT, can enjoy some reimbursement for the higher cost of gas and the penalties we went through for this particular gas scenario. If you look at the price all in all, yes, it may seem higher, but from the buyer perspective, the price is still, in my opinion, good, because these are paid by other sources, let me say. In the press release, was, I think, very well specified, these effects. Partly, also, the price is made of the permitted leakage, which is cash flow generated in 2022, so when the asset was still under our management.
This is very clear. Thank you, Paolo.
Thank you to you for your questions.
The next question is from Emanuele Oggioni with Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.
Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for taking my question as well. I have only two left. The first one is on the, still on the, on the guidance as regards to the, maybe the focusing on the net profit. As I noticed that the D&A in Q2 were quite low and lower than my expectation. If could give us a guidance for D&A in 2023, and the same, you, you had a very good control of financial charges, also very, very low in Q2 and H1 in general. If you provide us a guidance also as possible for the net profit for 2023, in, in, based on my estimates, is in the region of EUR 200 million.
The second question is on Sweden. You mentioned the technical issues for the 62 MW plant, wind plant in Sweden, still in commissioning phase. I suppose it's related to the well-known technical issues of one of the main worldwide supplier in the industry. If you could provide us more details on this. Thank you.
Okay, thank you for your question. May I say, as regards to the net profit, yeah, we have a positive view also for the full year, because for the 2 reasons you have mentioned. First of all, because we had, we had been working for a while on the life time extension programs that led us to remodulate the amortization and the depreciation of the assets, because the, all the programs we put in place, reached a certification for a longer life of our assets. As a consequence, notwithstanding the large investments we have done in 2022, you can see the depreciation are more or less in line with last year or just slightly up, and this has helped the net profit.
The other area of interest is the financial charges. We had been good and probably a little bit lucky to renegotiate all our indebtedness in a time of very low interest rates. We find ourself with a lot of cash available that is has been invested, not invested, say, allocated risk-free, but with a return that is consistent with the current remuneration for liquidity in excess of 4%. If you take EUR 500 million at 4%, you can easily realize that what we have missed from EBITDA was basically fully recovered from financial charges. As a matter of fact, yes, we expect also for the full year, because this effect should continue in the second part of the year.
We expect net profit to be reasonably in line w-w-with what you said, or maybe a little bit in excess of what you said. Sweden, sorry, I forgot. My colleagues remind. Yes, we said, the wind farm is branded new. It's composed by 10 wind turbines from Siemens Gamesa, more than 6 MW each, so completely new and advanced technology. The, the, the field was, the capacity was fully installed by the end of last year, then we enter in the commissioning phase, and but this is in line also with public announcements from Siemens Gamesa itself. We encountered some technical issues in some components, but now, they are working, Siemens Gamesa, which got... As a full service agreement, is working on each.
8 out of 10 wind turbines are working, and they should, according to the last news we had from the OEM, they should reach more or less the regime, say, by the end of September. If not, of course, we have, say, clauses, contractual clauses, that are covering part of the production loss.
Thank you very much.
Everything included in our guidance. Okay.
Okay, thank you.
The last question is from Davide Candela with Intesa Sanpaolo. Please go ahead.
Hi, good afternoon, everyone, and thank you also from my side, for the presentation. I just have one, and maybe there is not even an answer for this, just a suggestion, a suggestion on my side. I was wondering if, do you feel that the average load factors for the plants are going a bit down due to, I would, I would say, severe weather condition? Because if, if it is too windy, the, the, the, the wind farms are not working, or, you can lose some efficiencies in the plants. Just, a feeling on this view, or, just say if I'm completely wrong and it is not as, as it is. Thank you.
I'll say thanks for the question. I say, whenever we have a performance, say, below our budget, we started up all the analysis to understand if it's something company specific, or it's something related to outward and external conditions. This time didn't make any exception from this point of view. We made several analysis all around the assets, say, 360 degree, in particularly focused in Italy and in the U.K., where we had the lower load factor compared to our budget. What came out from those analysis that there is nothing or almost nothing company specific, has been external situation based on the, the weather conditions, high pressure in U.K., lower wind speed, in particular, I repeat, in June, in Italy.
When I'm going to ask, or I've asked my engineers, to say this is related to climate change or to this, extraordinary, climate condition, they said, it's impossible to extrapolate, this kind of trend or this kind of conclusion, and they showed me a 20-year, 30 years analysis on wind, and they let me see that this kind of cycle are always been there, also in the past. Maybe, you have a couple of years, weak wind, because also 2022 wasn't that good, and then followed by 2-3 years, of stronger wind. It's very difficult to extrapolate, a trend, for wind, especially for wind, looking at the long-term analysis.
Considering Italy, we have assets that started up productions, more than 20 years ago. We have all the elements to run this kind of analysis. The message I want to give you, don't take 1 quarter as a proxy for the future, it would be completely wrong. That's my opinion and our opinion.
Yeah, for sure. Thank you.
The next question is from Roberto Letizia, Equita. Please go ahead.
Oh, yes, sorry, sorry for that, but I missed what you said on the net income, because you said, okay, the reference is in line or even better to what Emanuele has suggested, but actually the line was better, and I didn't hear the numbers. If you can, please repeat it. One very, very quick, I was wondering if you can confirm that the Poland cap is in place only for 23, or if it's going to continue even next year? Thanks. Sorry for that.
For the time being, it's for 2023. Let's see, because it's a little bit unpredictable, the regulator in some countries, so let's see. For the net profit, I said that if you take the number mentioned in the region of EUR 200 million, I would say it's a reasonable estimate, and I would be a little bit more optimistic of that. Because also in the second part of the year, if you take our EBITDA, and say, take the depreciation more or less in line compared to the H1, and the trend in financial charges to remain basically the same, you will reach a number that is in excess of this reference estimate.
Okay, many, many thanks. Sorry for having asking that, ask back. Sorry.
No worry.
Mr. Merli, there are no more questions registered at this time.
Okay, thank you very much. Have a good summer, and we are going on with our business plan.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over. You may disconnect your telephones.