Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) reported record third-quarter funds from operations, as newly commissioned projects and gains from asset sales supported growth. The company also extended the voting deadline for its proposed corporate simplification after participation by unitholders fell short of the required threshold.
Funds from operations, or FFO, rose 15% from a year earlier to $346 million. FFO per unit increased 11% to $0.51. For the 12 months through the quarter, FFO was $1.49 billion, or $2.18 per unit, increases of 15% and 12%, respectively.
CEO Connor Teskey said Brookfield expects to finish 2026 with earnings growth in line with or ahead of its long-term targets. The company’s targets include FFO-per-unit growth of more than 10% and distribution growth of 5% to 9%.
Asset sales support results and growth funding
Managing Partner and CFO Patrick Taylor said the hydroelectric business generated $214 million of FFO, helped by gains from the sale of Brookfield’s remaining 25% interest in a Maine hydro portfolio and small hydro assets owned by its Colombian business, Isagen. Those gains helped offset weaker hydrology in Ontario and Colombia.
Taylor said drier conditions associated with El Niño affected Isagen, but the company expects generation to move toward long-term averages in the near term. In response to an analyst’s question, he said it was still early in Brookfield’s monitoring of El Niño and that the impact on its global results had been relatively modest.
Wind and solar contributed a combined $243 million of FFO, supported by newly commissioned capacity and gains from asset sales to Northview Energy. The distributed energy, storage and sustainable solutions businesses contributed $54 million, with support from development activity and Westinghouse’s performance.
Since the end of the second quarter, Brookfield has agreed to or closed asset sales expected to generate approximately $2.8 billion in proceeds, including $850 million net to BEP. Those transactions included the monetization of its investment in Indian renewable platform Avaada for approximately $570 million, or $125 million net to BEP.
Teskey said returns on capital recycling over the past 12 to 18 months averaged in the mid-to-high teens, above the company’s 12% to 15% total return target range. Taylor said Brookfield has a high level of conviction that it can continue delivering similar returns, citing its flexibility to sell assets across technologies and markets.
Battery storage and nuclear plans advance
Brookfield invested or committed $3 billion to growth during the quarter, or $700 million net to BEP, including the acquisition of renewable power platform Boralex. It closed its acquisition of battery storage platform Aypa after quarter-end.
The company commissioned 2.5 gigawatts of capacity during the quarter and signed power purchase agreements for another 1.6 gigawatts of projects. Teskey said Brookfield remains on track to reach a run rate of 10 gigawatts of commissioned capacity by 2027, with energy storage expected to represent between one-third and half of that rate.
Aypa has signed three power purchase agreements totaling approximately 900 megawatts since the acquisition closed, Teskey said. He said battery projects are increasingly being backed by long-term tolling or capacity agreements rather than relying on merchant revenue. In Texas’s ERCOT market, Brookfield will continue to build batteries if it sees demand for long-term contracts, he said.
In nuclear power, Teskey highlighted a strategic framework agreement involving Westinghouse, the U.S. federal government and the Republic of Korea. The agreement contemplates up to $120 billion of Korean investment to support eight reactors on U.S. federal sites, including six Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. The framework remains subject to final negotiations, Teskey said.
Simplification vote extended
Brookfield extended the deadline for voting on its proposal to combine BEP and BEPC into a single listed corporate entity to November 25, 2026. Approval requires two-thirds of eligible BEP units, but participation remains below that threshold.
Taylor said 99.7% of votes cast by BEP unitholders so far have supported the proposal. BEPC shareholders approved the transaction on October 14, although completion remains conditional on BEP investor approval. The company is continuing outreach to retail and institutional investors to encourage voting, he said.
Brookfield ended the quarter with $5.1 billion of liquidity and completed approximately $10 billion of financings during the period, Taylor said. He also said the company expects distribution growth to remain toward the lower end of its 5% to 9% target range as it pursues investment opportunities and works to lower its payout ratio.
About Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP)
Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. is a global renewable power and sustainable solutions company. The partnership develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of renewable energy facilities, with hydroelectric generation complemented by onshore and offshore wind, utility-scale and distributed solar, battery storage, and other energy transition assets.
Through its operating platforms, Brookfield Renewable supplies electricity and related energy services to utilities, corporations and other customers.
