Brookfield Renewable Partners Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Brookfield Renewable posted a “very strong” Q1 with FFO of $375 million (up 19% y/y, $0.55/unit), deployed or committed $2.2 billion (≈$550m net), and agreed to participate in the privatization of Boralex at an implied enterprise value of $6.5 billion, expected to close in 2026.
• Operational momentum is accelerating — the company commissioned more than 9 GW over the past 12 months and targets ~10 GW/year by 2027, with segment FFO gains (hydro $210m, wind/solar $245m) and active nuclear (Westinghouse AP1000) and battery-storage initiatives as key growth drivers.
• On the balance sheet, Brookfield completed nearly $4 billion of financings, finished the quarter with >$4.7 billion of liquidity and a ~14-year average corporate debt maturity, while capital recycling and monetizations (~$2.8–3.0 billion) and the new Northview vehicle have generated meaningful proceeds and optional future drop-down capacity.

Brookfield Renewable Partners NYSE: BEP reported what management called a “very strong start to the year” in the first quarter of 2026, citing record financial results, continued development activity, a ramp-up in capital recycling, and new financing that extended corporate debt maturities.

Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Renewable, said the company generated funds from operations (FFO) of $375 million, up 19% year-over-year and 15% on a per-unit basis, equating to $0.55 per unit. Teskey also pointed to $2.2 billion deployed or committed into growth during the quarter, or $550 million net to BEP, highlighted by a recently announced agreement to acquire Boralex in a privatization transaction.

Quarterly results and segment performance

Patrick Taylor, managing partner and CFO, reiterated the quarter’s “record financial results,” and said Brookfield Renewable generated $375 million of FFO, or $0.55 per unit. Over the last 12 months, Taylor said FFO totaled $1.394 billion, or $2.08 per unit, up 13% year-over-year and 12% on a per-unit basis.

Taylor broke down performance by operating segment:

• Hydroelectric: $210 million of FFO, up almost 30% year-over-year, supported by strong generation in Canadian and Colombian fleets and a realized gain from selling a 25% interest in a non-core U.S. hydro portfolio, partially offset by weaker hydrology at U.S. operations.
• Wind and solar: Combined FFO of $245 million, up over 60% year-over-year, benefiting from development, acquisitions, and “accretive capital recycling” across platforms.
• Distributed energy, storage, and sustainable solutions: $58 million of FFO, reflecting development activity and growth at Westinghouse driven by reactor design and engineering work and “organic growth within its core fuel and maintenance services business.”

Energy market backdrop and demand trends

Teskey said the quarter was marked by global energy disruption following the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East. He said the company’s “limited investments” in the region have not been directly impacted and continue to perform, while Brookfield Renewable’s largely contracted business means it does not expect a material near-term cash flow impact from higher energy prices in some markets.

However, Teskey said the conflict has “put a renewed spotlight on the importance of energy security,” which he said is reinforcing investments in renewables—described as “the lowest cost form of generation to meet demand today” that does not rely on imported fuel—alongside nuclear as a source of large-scale baseload generation with the ability to store fuel on-site.

Management also emphasized continued acceleration in electricity demand. Teskey attributed the environment to electrification, re-industrialization, and digitalization, arguing it is driving an “any and all approach” to energy supply. He said Brookfield Renewable commissioned more than 9 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity over the past 12 months, nearly double what it delivered two years earlier, and remains on track to increase its annual commissioning run rate to about 10 GW per year in 2027.

Development progress, nuclear initiatives, and hyperscaler demand

During the quarter, Teskey said Brookfield Renewable brought online 1.8 GW of new capacity and contracted 1.7 GW of development projects from its advanced development pipeline. He also highlighted continued work with the U.S. government to accelerate deployment of Westinghouse large-scale nuclear reactors in the U.S., including progress on “ordering of long lead time equipment” for Westinghouse’s AP1000 technology.

On the question-and-answer portion of the call, Teskey told CIBC analyst Mark Jarvi that nuclear discussions remain “very live,” with frameworks being developed to enable initial orders, and he said the company hopes to announce “significant progress” in the near term. Later, Teskey described the primary task as aligning stakeholders—government, utilities, offtakers, and financing parties—given the scale of potential U.S. nuclear build-out relative to the last 10 to 15 years.

Teskey also discussed the company’s work with hyperscalers, telling National Bank of Canada analyst Rupert Merer that demand continues to increase and that activity within the company’s framework agreements is broadening. As an example, he said the company continues to contract wind and solar with Microsoft, has contracted hydropower under a long-term contract, and is increasingly considering battery storage within project and broader arrangements.

In response to RBC Capital Markets analyst Nelson Ng, Teskey said it is “absolutely” economic to add batteries in today’s market, saying storage provides offtakers with a load profile that better matches 24/7 demand and is being pursued both alongside projects and on a standalone basis. In a separate exchange, Teskey said battery and energy storage is the company’s fastest-growing technology, noting capital costs for batteries and storage have fallen 65% to 70% over the last 24 months. He also pointed to growing interest in behind-the-meter solutions, describing demand growth as outpacing the speed at which grids can expand.

M&A strategy and the Boralex acquisition

Global Chief Investment Officer Jeh Vevaina said Brookfield Renewable is seeing “some of the most compelling investment opportunities” for its franchise, spanning both development execution and M&A. He outlined the company’s M&A approach as focusing on scalable platforms in attractive markets, assessing cash flow durability with contracted revenues and high-credit counterparties, and identifying opportunities to enhance value through commercial relationships, procurement scale, and optimized financing.

Vevaina said Brookfield Renewable’s announced privatization of Boralex—alongside La Caisse—fits the company’s playbook and follows other acquisitions he cited, including Neoen, OnPath, Geronimo, Deriva, Scout, and Urban Grid. Under the terms described on the call, La Caisse will increase its ownership in Boralex from 15% to 30%, while BEP alongside institutional partners will acquire the remaining 70% at an implied enterprise value of $6.5 billion. He said the transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and is expected to close later in 2026.

Vevaina said the acquisition is expected to contribute positively to financial results upon closing and that Brookfield sees opportunities to accelerate development, incorporate battery storage, drive efficiencies by sharing best practices, and establish an asset recycling program within the Boralex platform.

In Q&A, Teskey said Brookfield Renewable continues to see public-market opportunities and described a “robust pipeline across both private and public” M&A for the remainder of the year, citing capital constraints at some public companies as a driver of dislocation.

Financing, capital recycling, and potential structural simplification

Taylor said Brookfield Renewable completed nearly $4 billion of financings across the platform in the first three months of the year and ended the quarter with more than $4.7 billion of available liquidity. He highlighted the issuance of CAD 500 million of 30-year notes at what he called the tightest spread the company has achieved, contributing to an average corporate-level debt maturity of about 14 years, which he said is the longest in the company’s history.

Management also emphasized capital recycling. Teskey said the company scaled its program with sales expected to generate nearly $3 billion of proceeds, or over $800 million net to BEP, while Taylor said the company closed or agreed to sell assets expected to generate about $2.8 billion, or $820 million net to BEP.

Taylor cited several recycling actions, including an agreement to sell the company’s remaining 50% interest in a portfolio of non-core U.S. hydro assets, an IPO of CleanMax in India in which Brookfield sold about half its interest, and a sale of operating solar assets in the U.S. from the Deriva Energy platform. Taylor said the CleanMax IPO returned Brookfield Renewable’s original invested capital while maintaining exposure to growth and generated a 25% internal rate of return to date.

A major new initiative discussed was the creation of Northview Energy, a private renewable vehicle focused on operating renewable assets in North America and formed with BCI, Norges Bank Investment Management, and a Brookfield fund. Taylor said the vehicle was seeded through the sale of 22 operating onshore wind and utility-scale solar assets, generating $1.3 billion of total proceeds, or $315 million net to BEP. Teskey told analysts Brookfield Renewable has the option, not the obligation, to sell additional assets to Northview, and said the initial capital commitment for future drop-downs is expected to be utilized over roughly two to four years. Taylor added that the framework could support up to an additional $1.5 billion of incremental gross proceeds over time.

Taylor also noted the launch of an at-the-market equity issuance program for BEPC paired with repurchases of BEP LP units. In the first quarter, he said the company issued 2.8 million BEPC shares and used the proceeds to repurchase the same number of BEP units, resulting in about $27 million of realized cash gains.

Finally, Taylor said Brookfield Renewable is exploring whether a “single combined corporate structure” could better serve investors, with a goal of determining if a single corporate security can be created on a tax-free basis to enhance liquidity, increase index inclusion, and create value. In response to Barclays analyst Christine Cho, Taylor said the company is early in its assessment and did not provide additional details beyond the stated objectives. Teskey added that the company would not expect a change in corporate structure to change its dividend policy.

Looking ahead, Taylor said Brookfield Renewable remains focused on delivering 12% to 15% long-term total returns supported by its operating platform, capital allocation, and an expanding capital recycling program. In Q&A, Teskey also said the company believes it is positioned to exceed its long-term target of 10% FFO per unit growth in the “short to short-to-medium term,” driven by M&A, new capacity coming online, and asset recycling at attractive values.

About Brookfield Renewable Partners NYSE: BEP

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. is a leading global owner, operator and developer of renewable power assets. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BEP, the partnership focuses on generating clean electricity from a diversified mix of hydroelectric, wind, solar and energy storage facilities. As part of the Brookfield Asset Management group, Brookfield Renewable leverages a long-term, asset-backed approach to investing in sustainable energy projects that support the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The company’s platform encompasses approximately 23,000 megawatts of installed capacity across four continents.

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