Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Solaria 2026 first half results webcast. My name is David Guengant, the Head of IR of Solaria. I am joined today by Darío López, our Chief Operating Officer. During this call, we will discuss our business outlook and make forward-looking statements. These comments are based on our prediction and expectation as of today. During this presentation, we will begin with an overview of the results and the main development during the period given by our COO, Darío. Following this, we will move to the Q&A session. I would also like to highlight that you have to submit all your questions via the web. Thank you very much again. I will now hand over the word to Darío.
If we go to see the numbers of this first half of the year, first what we want to highlight is that the results we have are the best results ever of Solaria. We had the best P&L and the best balance sheet for the history of Solaria. Just going into the details, for example, in terms of production, we have increased 51% compared with last year. We have reached EUR 100 million in sales in six months for our infra business, proving how resilient and stable it can be. EBITDA, we have reached EUR 210 million, which is a 50% increase versus last year. This also means that we have reached, in the first half of the year, 64% of the target of this year. In terms of the profits, we have also increased 52%, reaching EUR 122 million, and at the same time completing investment for more than EUR 276 million.
What is even more important, we have been able to reduce the leverage from 5.4x to 3.9x . Within that, in terms of the financial situation of the company, these are very good results, and we can be all proud. We do not settle here. We want more. That is why we have started an efficiency program. It is a cost efficiency and capital efficiency program that I will explain later. Finally, for the second half, we see an even better situation. First of all, we see very good prices of energy. We have already seen the price of Q3, and we have a very promising Q4. Finally, of course, we will have, and we will give more updates about the next Capital Markets Day. Just a brief summary on what we see in Q3. Solar price has increased 75%.
Our generation has increased 30%, and our merchant capability, that I will call optimized merchant, because today we have mechanisms to extract more value from the energy we have in merchant. You know what I am talking about. We are talking about the energy management that we have and the BESS capabilities that we are introducing. We see a very good Q3. If we talk about first half of the year, first I want to highlight is the relevant increase in the production of energy, 51% increase, which is relevant. We will be almost in double by the end of the year, hopefully. What is very important, infra. Infra, we have increased significantly. We have almost reached, as I explained before, EUR 100 million.
I think this infra business that is mainly based in the [powered land] business and all these data center technologies, we have been able to provide recurrence and stability that proves the resilience of this business line. In terms of the EBITDA, as I explained before, we have reached EUR 210 million, which is, I think, a very good number. We are today at 64% of the achievement of the yearly results. Here I want to be very clear. I want to reaffirm the objectives that we have in terms of EBITDA, that I will repeat. This year, our objective is EUR 331 million, that we have already obtained EUR 210 million. For 2027, EUR 456 million. For 2028, EUR 521 million. I want to reaffirm our commitment with these EBITDA objectives of the company. At the same time, we have improved significantly the financial health of our company.
First of all, we have managed to do this with a huge investment. We have invested more than EUR 276 million during this first half of the year. At the same time, we have improved the numbers of the company. I want to highlight, first of all, for example, the net financial debt versus EBITDA. That has gone to 3.9x versus 5.4x that we had last year. This number will improve in the next months. Also, the project debt has improved from 84% to 91%, and the fixed versus debt in this moment of uncertainty, at moment of interest rates, we have increased to 84% of fixed rate versus total debt.
If you allow me to compare where we are today, when we point where we were in the last Capital Markets Day, or what we talked in the last Capital Markets Day, I would like to highlight several points and to prove that we are delivering, and we are committed to deliver, and these numbers are the best proof of that. First of all, we reached the objective for last year, 2025. We promised EUR 250 million of EBITDA. We reached EUR 266 million. We exceeded this number. Second, this year, we promised EUR 331 million. We are at EUR 210 million, and this is half of the year. We are 64%. We are on track, let's say. In terms of the net debt versus EBITDA, as I have explained before, we have sped up the achievement of this objective, where we are now at 3.9x versus 5.4x.
This is very important to prove in this moment of uncertainty the good financial health of the company. In terms of operation capacity, we have reached 3.1 GW. We will reach more, 3.6 GW, at the end of the year. I want to be very clear here, we have to be profitable. Our growth has to be profitable. Just making megawatts for making megawatts doesn't make any sense. We make money. We do not make only megawatts. I want to be very clear about this. In terms of the development of long-term contracts and PPAs, you know we have signed PPAs for more than 400 MW, also base agreements. I think we have more than delivered here. In terms of the batteries, which is a relevant point, we had installed 40 MW.
Today, we are above 120 MWh, and this capacity will be multiplied significantly, will be increased significantly in the next months. This provides what I have called the optimized merchant and provides much higher value than any other technology at this moment. Not less important, expansion into Europe. We obtained the environmental approval of the largest project in Italy. It is Spinazzola. It is, in fact, the largest project that is in Italy right now, and it is the next flagship project. We completed successfully Trillo, we completed successfully Garoña, and now is the turn of Spinazzola. It provides very good value also for Solaria. As I said before, for us, this is not enough. We want more. That is why we have started a capital efficiency and cost efficiency program, where we expect to obtain another EUR 7 million of additional savings. This is a 12-year program.
We have already completed roughly 50%, and this will allow us to improve significantly the results. In terms of cost efficiency, for us, there is a significant cost reduction in terms of personnel. It is very simple. We have all the AI products and mechanism that, let's say, common in the market. In addition, our growth now is leveraged. It can be based on existing capabilities and existing assets. This allows us to be more efficient in terms of the cost and in terms of the people and the thing that we need to do it. This allows us to be more efficient and to make more money. Not only that, in a moment where the cost of the capital, the cost of the interest rates is increasing, what we are doing right now, we are improving the quality of our debt.
We are removing the expensive debt, to be clear, and we are focusing on having a good debt. Which is very important, investment discipline. I think this is critical. This is something that has been our character. The origins of Solaria has always been this point. We had to be the most efficient, and we will be the same. Making megawatts is not the business. It is making money. I will be very clear on this. That is why we maintain our objective to develop only projects which provide at least minimum 12% IRR, and we have them. The best part is that we have them, and we have very good projects providing these very good results. Okay.
If we talk a little bit about the future prices, what we see or what we have seen, in the first half of the year, we saw similar prices to last year. Q3, as I have explained, we have seen a significant increase in the energy prices, and we see also a relevant increase of the price of the solar energy in fact for the future. Also, don't forget, and we have said, that we have what we call the optimized merchant with all this mechanism, this dispatch of energy, these batteries, that will allow us to optimize even more the energy, the price of the energy that we see. Okay. Well, in terms of the asset, we have already developed a huge asset base. I don't know how many companies can say that they have created this base of assets. It has been PV.
Now it's a lot of batteries, which is quite innovative, and this will allow and provide much more value in the very short term. Just to summarize, we think that first half has been really good in terms of the EBITDA. That is our main target, and it's our objective. We have provided only in the first six months, 64% of the objective. The balance sheet of the company is much stronger than one year ago. We are prepared also to keep growing with profitable growth. Second, we see very good perspective for the second half of the year, just based only on these numbers that we have explained before of the electricity prices and what we see in the markets. Finally, we will provide more details, more strategic insight, more projections. We will not disappoint.
You know last year we had a very interesting Capital Markets Day. Many of you were there. This year will be even better. Book your agendas. Close your agendas right now. 17 November, London, 18 November, New York. Thank you.
Thank you, Darío. I will now open for Q&A session. Once again, thank you for your time. Just one minute. First question comes from Fernando García from RBC. First question is regarding DC, data center. Have we collected all money in infra revenue from DC in H1 2026? The second question from Fernando and from other analysts are related to if we have any comment on the Spanish data center regulatory proposal, any feedback from this consultation, and if we have stopped conversation about DC grid because of this draft on DC.
Thank you. Yes, of course. We sign contracts, and we have milestones to collect money. Of course, yes. Doesn't make sense if not. Royal Decree. Yes. There has been a lot of noise about this Royal Decree. This Royal Decree for us is really good. It puts the value in what we think it should be. Energy is critical. Not only connection, but also energy is critical for data center. This Royal Decree gives value to the energy and the quality of this energy. For Solaria, really good because allows us to provide. We are able to deliver on the requirements of this Royal Decree.
We have been approached by different groups, different, more data center players that have approached us in the recent weeks after this Royal Decree to work with us to be able to deliver, to fulfill the requirements of this Royal Decree.
Next questions come from Christian Salis from Cantor. I am sorry about that, but I cannot take all your question, so I will try to do my best. First question from Christian is related to powered land project. Of the 3.4 GW powered land project, only 1.2 GW are located in Spain. Can we provide any update on the current progress on the remaining 2.2 GW out of Spain? Second question from Christian is on BESS. You have now 120 MWh operating and want to reach another 1.2 GWh by year-end. This look ambitious. Any thought of that?
Thank you. Regarding the first question, yes, we have a good portfolio of projects. Yes, we have been able to close very nice deals here in Spain. We will continue closing deal in Spain, also with the support of the offer here and also these new regulations, but also outside. For example, I want to highlight the project that we have in the south of Italy. We have one of the largest project. We have 400 MW secured in the south of Italy with a connection with the land and with very advanced permitting. It is a project that we are receiving a lot of interest because of the size, because of the quality of the development. Well, yes, we are developing, and we will have more projects in different places also to diversify our portfolio.
In terms of the batteries, yes, we have now a relevant development in batteries. As we said in the past, our main limitation was always the permitting. Now, the permitting, let us say, is not in the equation. It is not on the table because it is easier. We have the cable lines, we have the infra, it is in our hands. That is why I feel extremely comfortable with the development of batteries. Thank you.
Next question is coming from Alexandre from Bank of America. Can we effectively capture the higher power prices in Q3 and Q4 during solar hours? Would you be able to hedge this in advance? Are we planning to reduce the merchant exposure below 35%?
Yes, of course, we are able. With this situational prices, this price that I have highlighted here, these are solar energy prices that, as you can see, are really good. But in addition, I have talked before about the optimized merchant. This optimized merchant is possible as long as you manage your energy. That is something that Solaria can do, not everyone can do. But in our case, we have been developing our capabilities, our dispatch of energy. We have our own trading unit for energy. And with batteries, we can not only capture this, but we can capture even more value, because here is solar, but as we say, my merchant energy is not solar anymore. It is something more than solar. Regarding to plan the merchant exposure, if I do this, I reduce my business. So it wouldn't make any sense for me.
This merchant exposure, as long as, first, I have very good prices, and also I can even optimize them much more with batteries. So, for me, it wouldn't make any sense now to close. Hopefully, I will have more.
Next question comes from Flora, from CaixaBank. First question is regarding the infrastructure segment. Can we help to understand if the EUR 100 million of EBITDA accounting in the H1 means effective cash in? Second question, are we maintaining the full year 2026 EBITDA guidance, any thought of that? And does it would mean a limited contribution from the infra segment in the second half?
Thank you. Yes, of course, as I said before, if we close contracts and we have milestone, we have to cash in the contracts. Yes, obvious. Second, yes, I have also mentioned before in terms of EBITDA targets, I reiterate the EUR 331 million EBITDA target for 2026. I think you have enough information to see how close we are. But also for the next year, EUR 456 million for 2027 and EUR 521 million for 2028. I reiterate all the EBITDA auditors of the company.
Next question is coming from Víctor Peiró, from GVC Gaesco. Can we provide some color on the wind hybridization plan?
Yes, of course. As you know, we received recently our first environmental authorization for one of the largest projects in Garoña. Which for us is an important milestone that we have Solaria, as we have explained many times, is not anymore only a PV company. We have BESS, we have wind, we will have wind very soon. In terms of this milestone, also in this very special project of Garoña, where we have batteries, we have wind, we have data center, we have many things, it's approved what we can do or what is Solaria, really. Yes, more will come in the very short term in terms of the authorization for wind energy. Okay.
Next question is coming from Philippe Ourpatian from Oddo. Can we elaborate about the infrastructure revenues on the second half?
Yes. I think that with these numbers of EUR 100 million in the first half, you can see that this business is recurrent and stable. Yes, we continue. This is our data center and infra business that we have been talking in the last years, and we have now proved that it is not a one-shot, as we said, it is much more than that. Of course, we will have more results in the second half.
Next question come from Beatrice Gianola from Mediobanca. Are we planning to participate to the next capacity market auction for storage in Italy? Which kind of return are we targeting?
If we make money, yes, of course. I have explained before, we participate as long as we make money. If we are going to lose money, we will not. We will participate with numbers that will allow us to make money. But yes, we will participate.
Next question is coming from Henry Tarr from Berenberg regarding BESS. How attractive are the BESS project, and what are the building blocks of the returns that you can see on service services, capacity payment, merchant trading on BESS?
Well, I think it is quite easy to make some numbers. If you look, for example, at the price of the market today, you will see a huge spread. This is not the only. With the spread, we have seen in the last days spreads of EUR 70, EUR 100, even EUR 200 per megawatt hour, which is really high. This is something that the batteries can catch. We know it because we see it. Not just because we have seen it in an excess file, it is because the asset that we have, they produce it. They are able to. That is just playing with the spread between low and high. Also, don't forget that batteries, as you have mentioned, they can participate in different markets. The government has just issued this capacity market that we have been waiting for a long time that will provide some additional revenues.
Also, batteries can participate, will allow us to be even more flexible participating in other markets, secondary, tertiary, which allows to include more energy. That is why when we talk about this merchant, we talk about this optimized merchant. It is much more than just pure merchant.
Next question comes from Mariano Miguel from Alantra. First question is, can we give any update on the 500 MW potential additional agreement on data centers? Second is, any potential impact on this Royal Decree on DC, or can we give a sort of view, any new contact after this DC?
Well, we have a Capital Markets Day that I have mentioned before, 17th and 18th. We will for sure surprise again, with many more news and many more things. It is something I am afraid that I cannot disclose much more. Okay.
Next question is coming from Beatrice Gianola. How much of the infrastructure revenue come from the data center deal?
Well, as Darío mentioned, a very relevant part of our infrastructure revenue is coming from data center deal.
I think we are done for the day. Just maybe, as Darío said, we have only one more question on clawback. Any view on this possible clawback in Spain?
Yes. You know that there have been some rumors in the last days about this clawback, but I want to remember the words of the Minister of Economy of yesterday, and by extension, the government, where he confirmed that at this moment they didn't see the situation, and that is the fact. The situation today in Spain is not the same as in 2022. Spain is much better prepared. The deployment of renewables has allowed Spain to be in a much better situation. The impact of the prices is not the same as in other places in Europe. That is the first point. Also what is very clear is that those remedies, the radical remedies, did not solve the situation. They made it even worse.
They doubled the consumption of gas, so they just were a way to subsidize the consumption of gas, which, of course, is not the solution. You cannot subsidize the problem. You have to keep supporting what is the solution, that is new technologies, renewable batteries, and everything.
Thank you, Darío. I think we are done for the day. Thank you to everybody for joining today's call, and I will now lend the word to Darío to close this webcast.
Thank you very much for being part of this conference call. As always, our investor relation team will be available for any additional information you may require. Thank you, and have a great afternoon.