Northland Power (TSX:NPI) reported second-quarter financial results on Thursday. The transcript from the company's second-quarter earnings call has been provided below.
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Summary
Northland Power reported a 6% increase in adjusted EBITDA to $259 million for Q2 2026, driven by contributions from Hai Long and Oneida operations, but offset by lower offshore wind production in Europe.
The company achieved significant milestones with first power from its Baltic Power offshore wind project in Poland and progressed construction of its Hailong offshore wind project in Taiwan, securing a $2.4 billion financing package.
Northland Power reaffirmed its 2026 financial guidance, expecting adjusted EBITDA of $1.45 to $1.65 billion and free cash flow per share of $1.05 to $1.25.
Operational highlights include 96% availability of resources and the commencement of construction on two battery storage projects in Poland, Kameonka and Micislawo.
Management emphasized strategic growth in markets such as Poland, Spain, and the UK, and highlighted the importance of value enhancement projects and disciplined capital allocation.
The company is cautious about new opportunities in Canada due to competitive returns and regulatory challenges, but remains optimistic about potential growth in Europe and Asia.
Full Transcript
OPERATOR
Welcome to the Northland Power Conference Call to discuss the second quarter 2026 results. As a reminder, this call is being recorded on Thursday, August 13, 2026 at 10:00am Eastern. Present for the call are Christine Healy, President and CEO; Jeff Hart, Chief Financial Officer; and Adam Beaumont, Head of Capital Markets. Before we begin, Northland's management has asked me to remind listeners that all figures presented during today's call are in Canadian dollars and to caution that certain information presented and responses to questions may contain forward-looking statements that include assumptions and are subject to various risks.
Actual results may differ materially from management's expected or forecasted results. Please read the Forward-Looking Statements section in yesterday's news release announcing Northland Power's results and be guided by its contents when making investment decisions or recommendations. The release is available at www.northlandpower.com. I will now turn the call over to Ms. Christine Healy. Please go ahead.
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Thank you. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us. Northland continued to execute on our strategy this quarter, delivering strong operating performance, advancing our projects in construction and progressing the opportunities that will drive our next phase of growth. I'll provide some construction updates and Jeff will then walk through the financials in more detail and we will open the line for questions. But before jumping into our results, I wanted to take a moment to comment on our broader market backdrop.
Across our core markets, we're seeing a level of electricity demand growth that has not been present for decades. That growth is being driven by industrial activity, data centers, electrification, urbanization and, more importantly over time, energy security. The energy security point is particularly important in Europe. For the Canadians and Americans on the call, the current European market reality is quite different. North American natural gas prices remain relatively low and are largely disconnected from European and Asian gas pricing.
In markets such as Germany, natural gas remains a key driver of electricity prices, which means volatility in global gas markets continues to flow into power markets and resulting pricing. That's why the discussion in Europe has moved beyond simply adding renewable capacity. The focus is on building an electricity system that's secure, affordable and able to support the electrification, industrial needs and the data center demand. This matters for Northland.
It validates our multi-technology approach and reinforces the importance of investing based on what an electricity system needs. We don't start with a technology and look for somewhere to deploy it. We start with market fundamentals, system needs and risk-adjusted returns, and we invest selectively where our capabilities can deliver results. We don't see this as a short-term cycle. We see a structural shift in electricity markets, recognizing of course that the pace and shape of that shift will vary by market.
Northland is well positioned to respond through our differentiated development, construction and operating capabilities across renewables, gas-fired power and storage. And I will note here as well that Northland does have a particularly differentiated capability in offshore wind, demonstrated by the delivery of our two world-class projects in construction and our projects in operation. We have the people, partnerships and execution capability to deliver this necessary and growing source of energy.
I will add that not a single electron gets added to the grid through policy and discussion alone. It requires capable owners and operators who can build and run the infrastructure our markets need, and this is where Northland delivers. Turning now to our operations over the quarter, I've noted on these calls in the past that our goal is to be ready when the wind blows and the sun shines, and in the past quarter our availability was very strong. In the case of our gas assets, we are ready to dispatch when the market needs us.
In Q2, wind resources across Europe, particularly in the North Sea, were at the low end of historic averages. This was partially offset by our Spanish onshore renewables portfolio where solar and onshore wind resources were generally in line with the same period last year. Against that backdrop, our operational performance was strong with 96% availability, ensuring we were well positioned to capture the wind resource when available. Importantly, the low European wind was a second quarter story.
Year-to-date generation is in line with historical average levels and you will recall there were strong wind conditions in Q1. As a result, we are reaffirming our full year 2026 adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow per share guidance. Turning to our projects in construction, just a few weeks ago we made history in Poland. Our 1.1 gigawatt Baltic Power offshore wind project achieved first power, delivering the first electrons ever produced from an offshore wind project to Polish homes and businesses.
This was a major milestone for the project, for Northland, our partner Orlen, and for Poland. Many Polish and Canadian dignitaries were in attendance to mark the significance of this landmark event. Today, 61 out of 76 turbines are installed and 15 are generating power. The project is on track for commercial operations later this year with costs aligned to original expectations. Poland is a priority market for Northland. We have built local partnerships, established in-country expertise and continue to see compelling market fundamentals driven by robust economic growth and the need for additional energy infrastructure.
Our battery storage projects in Poland are a natural extension of these capabilities and an attractive opportunity to further expand our presence in the market. During the quarter we commenced construction on those battery storage projects, Kameonka and Micislawo. Both projects represent a combined 300 megawatt 4-hour duration or 1,200 megawatt-hours of capacity. Site preparations and foundation work are underway, major equipment has been ordered and both projects are on track for commercial operations in 2028.
These projects deepen our platform in Poland and build on the expertise gained through the successful execution of Oneida and the ongoing construction of Jurassic BESS. We are leveraging lessons learned and our proven capabilities in development, construction and operations to support project delivery and create long-term value for shareholders. Turning to Hailong, our 1 GW offshore wind project in Taiwan, we expanded the existing power purchase agreement with the corporate customer to 100% of the output through a 30-year contract and earlier this week we announced that Hailong secured a $2.4 billion financing package.
Through this, we've optimized the project, attracted new local banks and accessed lower financing costs. We are encouraged by the increased participation from local banks in this financing. Their involvement reflects the confidence and support for the Hailong project in the Taiwanese market and reinforces the importance of aligning long-term infrastructure investments with domestic stakeholders. Construction continues to progress as 71 out of Hailong's 73 turbines are installed with 59 generating power.
We expect all turbines will be generating power later this year and full commercial operations will be achieved in 2027. Shifting to Canada, our 80 megawatt, 160 megawatt-hour Jurassic BESS project in Alberta is in construction. All the major equipment has been installed and we are in the final stages of commissioning with commercial operations expected shortly. Once complete, Jurassic BESS will be the largest battery storage project in Alberta and Northland's second operating battery storage facility following from Oneida's successful commissioning in Ontario last year.
Together, these five projects in construction add approximately 2.5 gigawatts of new capacity to our future operating portfolio and will deliver a meaningful increase in EBITDA and cash flow as they come online. Beyond our current construction program, we are focused on converting this backdrop—the macro backdrop I spoke of earlier—into the next phase of disciplined growth, particularly through opportunities where Northland already has operating experience, development capability or established relationships.
In Canada, we are encouraged by the improving policy dialogue and the growing alignment between federal and provincial governments on the need for new infrastructure. We are watching carefully for regulatory improvements that can help unlock the next phase of investment for Northland. This could create a compelling opportunity set in our home market, particularly where our development, construction and operating capabilities can be applied with discipline.
In Europe, our focus remains on markets where long-term policy direction, system needs and Northland's capabilities come together to support attractive investment opportunities, and we see opportunities to deploy capital for strong risk-adjusted returns across our core markets including Poland, Spain and the UK. We will pursue growth where market fundamentals, risk-adjusted returns and Northland's capabilities align. We will provide a fuller update on our growth priorities with our third quarter results.
For now, our message is that the opportunity set is broadening and our approach will remain disciplined. Our recent Poland BESS acquisition is a good example of our approach. We identified and secured mature opportunities in a core market and we have been able to execute on them very well. Value enhancement is also an important part of our growth strategy. As an owner and operator, Northland has visibility across the full asset life cycle which allows us to identify opportunities to increase returns from existing infrastructure, grid connections and development rights.
These initiatives can offer attractive risk-adjusted returns with lower capital intensity and execution risk than fully new build. Development work is ongoing including evaluating hybridization opportunities, repowering, recontracting and capacity optimization initiatives across our fleet. We are focused on delivering the opportunities in front of us and creating long-term value for shareholders, and with that I'll turn it over to Jeff to walk through our financial results.
Jeff Hart (Chief Financial Officer)
Thanks, Christine, and good morning everyone. I'll provide some further color on our Q2 results. Northland Power generated adjusted EBITDA of $259 million, a 6% increase compared to the second quarter of 2025, and that increase was driven by revenue contributions from Hai Long and a full quarter of Oneida operations, combined with lower operating costs at our natural gas facilities. As Christine noted earlier, those increases were partially offset by lower offshore wind production in Europe, which was approximately 11% below the long-term average.
The resulting second quarter free cash flow was $23 million. This was approximately 60% lower than the same quarter last year, and the primary contributing factor to the decrease in free cash flow was a one-time benefit from a German trade tax refund recognized in the second quarter of 2025. And on a per share basis, free cash flow in the second quarter was $0.09 compared to $0.22 in Q2 2025. Our net loss was $54 million for the quarter, which was in line with the second quarter of 2025.
I will note, in July one of Gemini's two export cables had a circuit failure and was taken out of service. Gemini's production has continued via the second export cable and the subsea repair of the other cable is underway with completion expected this year; we expect the impact on our full-year results to be immaterial, net of insurance proceeds. And turning to our investment program at our offshore construction projects, Baltic Power and Hai Long both are on track for commercial operations with overall costs aligned with original expectations.
At Baltic Power, as Christine mentioned, we achieved first power in early July and expect to achieve full commercial operations later this year. And at Hai Long, we have secured a 20-year incremental debt financing of 2.4 billion Canadian dollars. This financing strengthened the project's capital structure and provides an alternate source of lower-cost funding. Approximately 900 million of the 2.4 billion represents incremental funding capacity available through project completion.
The remaining proceeds will be used to refinance the approximately 1.5 billion of higher-cost debt. The financing attracted a number of new local lenders, further reflecting the quality of the project and execution. Hai Long's construction remains on track and the forecast of pre-completion revenue combined with the incremental debt is expected to cover the project's funding requirements. We are reaffirming our 2026 financial guidance with adjusted EBITDA expected in the range of $1.45 to $1.65 billion and free cash flow per share in the range of $1.05 to $1.25 per share.
And I'd like to close by acknowledging that with nearly $1 billion of available liquidity combined with our investment grade balance sheet, we are well positioned to execute on our plan. With that, I'll hand it back to Christine.
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Thank you, Jeff. Northland Power's strategy is simple: build in markets where we have earned the right to operate and then operate well. The progress we've delivered this quarter demonstrates that strategy in action. We have reaffirmed full-year guidance. Baltic Power is generating power for the Polish grid. Hai Long is fully contracted and financed. Jurassic BESS is in the final stages of commissioning, and construction is underway on Kamenka and Micislawo, our two Poland BESS projects.
Operational reliability continues to be strong. Simply put, we are efficiently and effectively delivering. As we look ahead, the second half of 2026 will be defined by two milestones. We expect both Baltic Power and Hai Long to have all turbines generating, marking the start of contracted cash flow after years of project investment and execution. With full-year guidance reaffirmed and major projects approaching commercial operations, Northland Power is well positioned to deliver long-term value.
This concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, can you please open the line for questions?
OPERATOR
Thank you. To ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. And our first question comes from Baltage Sidhu of National Bank of Canada. Your line is open.
Baltage Sidhu, Analyst at National Bank of Canada
Hi, good morning everyone. Just a few questions from me. So there's been clearly strong momentum at Hai Long with effectively all of the turbines now installed, and if we look at the energy cadence since Q1, roughly, call it a couple of turbines per week, it would seem possible to have the full park energized by the end of September absent any weather or other disruptions. Is that a reasonable way to think about the remaining commissioning cycle?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Yeah, go ahead, Baltaj, thanks very much for the question. I'm going to say to you nothing's done until it's done because we're in project land, but the teams are executing very well. I see the same pattern that you mentioned there, that the performance has been good, the execution has been good. We have had some weather that's rolled through. The teams have adapted to that quite well. So we see things on track and you can see we're getting pretty close to the finish line on that.
Jeff Hart (Chief Financial Officer)
Yeah. And I think, Balta, I'd just add on that we are consistent with that, and we articulated I think last quarter that we expected all the turbines to be turning in Q4. So it's good to see that progress and we're pleased by it.
Baltage Sidhu, Analyst at National Bank of Canada
Great. And just a follow-up for you, Jeff. Great to see the refinancing earlier this week. Just given if the current energization pace continues, does that change how you're thinking about the PCR shortfall, appreciating that winds are strongest in Q4 and Q1?
Jeff Hart (Chief Financial Officer)
Yeah. No. And, you know, we articulated I think, you know, last year $150 to $200 million, our share, Canadian dollar impact on the PCRs. And the incremental financing or funding is—it's funding, it's capacity—so we don't necessarily have to draw on it as $300 million, our share. I think we're right on where we expect guidance to be within that range for our PCR generation and looked at earlier this year. So we're on the PCRs the way we laid out.
I think if wind performs in Q4, we're probably ahead of that $150—we're ahead of that $150 to $200 million impact and can negate some of it. Plus we have the incremental funding and capacity there. So we feel like we're in a good place on that project, but as Christine said, you're not done until you're done.
Baltage Sidhu, Analyst at National Bank of Canada
Great. Thanks, Jeff. And, Christine, with roughly two-thirds of North Sea One output still available, you touched on the German power pricing and natural gas there. How are you looking to balance locking in today's attractive German power prices against preserving merchant upside? And if you were to recontract more of that asset, how supportive would that be to pull some liquidity or up-finance that asset?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
So, Baltaj, we're always looking at that and what makes the most sense. I will say that the market is in a high level of disruption right now, so you see quite a variance in terms of different folks' forecasts on what the long-term pricing is going to look like. So certainly we're watching it, and if we see a good opportunity, then we will consider contracting. But our strategy was clear that we contracted a third so that we had stability on the cash flows that we needed to see in that asset, and then we were prepared to have the other two-thirds be merchant exposed.
As you know, across our entire portfolio we have very low merchant exposure, and so the portfolio can actually absorb some merchant exposure. We're comfortable with that right now. But we do continue to scan for, you know, if there's a better opportunity to contract it in and that makes sense for us, we of course will take advantage of that. But right now we're happy with what we have.
Baltage Sidhu, Analyst at National Bank of Canada
Great, thank you. I'll pass the line.
OPERATOR
Thank you. And our next question comes from Sean Stewart of TD Cowen. Your line is open.
Sean Stewart, Analyst at TD Cowen
Thanks. Good morning everyone. Christine, there was mention made of growth aspirations in Europe. I think we have a pretty good sense of what you're focused on in Poland, but you mentioned Spain and the UK as well. Can you give us an update on potential for organic growth in those two markets and any perspective on scale and potential timing of moving those types of initiatives along?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Sure, Sean. We'll be talking more about that I think with Q3 results because we've been focused this time around on project delivery, given that it was such a huge quarter on the project side. So of course we continue to be very interested in Poland. Poland is just a really attractive market for us, and I think it's probably for companies who are not there, then entering Poland is a different decision. But we are there, and great underlying demand growth, supportive policies.
We have some great partnerships. We really like Poland. In Spain, we have a strong position in Spain and we see that Spain really needs a lot more batteries—that without batteries there will continue to be a great deal of variability. So the batteries make a pretty great business case just on the accessing shoulder pricing because there's such a variation in pricing during the day. So we like the hybridization on existing platforms. We like some standalone battery opportunities, so we're evaluating that.
But the message I'll give here is the same as what I say in our investment committee all the time, is that every opportunity in Northland has to compete for capital. So we have to see that it's the best use of our capital and, more importantly, the best use of our talent within the company as well. So we continue to assess those opportunities. Personally, I do like batteries in Spain, but we'll see if they make it—if they run the gauntlet in investment committee successfully.
And then in the UK, as you know, we have an offshore wind project in Scotland called Spirit Nomera. That project was submitted for the consent process, so we'll wait and see what comes from that. But we do see that in the UK market there are some very interesting opportunities that we're looking at, both I would say our own offshore project but then some onshore opportunities as well. So again, we don't like to have a single asset orphaned in any one particular location; we like to build out a bit of a cluster around it. So that sort of gives you a guidepost to the types of areas where we're looking.
Sean Stewart, Analyst at TD Cowen
Okay, thanks for that detail. And, Christine, wondering if you can comment on the Ontario LT2 process, read-throughs on the outcome there and perspective on prioritizing growth in this province versus other regions going forward.
Christine Healy, President and CEO
You know, Sean, this one actually causes me some amount of consternation as a Canadian because I would love to deploy more capital in Canada, but we just see that the returns are better in our other markets. And so we bid projects on the basis of what returns we would need for those projects to be competitive in our portfolio. And you know what, it's probably properly and effectively functioning markets if there are others who think, or can actually deliver, those better or at lower cost.
I would say, though, we have a lot of experience at Northland and we have a very good track record of delivering projects exactly the way that we say. And I would say that the carry-on of that is it means that we're pretty effective at pricing the risk. And so I'm comfortable with how we bid into LT2. I'm also comfortable that our projects didn't make it through and I'm okay with that because we have other places to deploy our capital where we can get that rate of return.
And we also, you know, so we watch carefully for the future. But it, you know, it remains a question of where are going to be the really attractive opportunities in Canada. So the team is active on that. I'm, as a Canadian, very hopeful that we will see some places where we can really deploy. But we have to, you know, we keep saying risk-adjusted returns. Part of that risk is the regulatory process, the time it takes to get projects approved, the layers of approvals that are required for even quite simple projects.
When we put all that in and stack it up, you know, the Canadian projects have to compete and right now we see other better opportunities in the portfolio.
Sean Stewart, Analyst at TD Cowen
Understood. That's all I have for right now. Thanks very much.
OPERATOR
Thank you. And our next question comes from Benjamin Pham of BMO. Your line is open.
Benjamin Pham, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets
Hi. Thanks. Good morning. I know you mentioned the incremental debt funding, the pre-completion revenues, that's more than enough to cover the Hailong funding needs. But is there a scenario where, first off, can you confirm your confidence in not needing additional equity contributions to the project and then just what conditions you would have to see for that scenario to occur?
Jeff Hart (Chief Financial Officer)
Yeah, Ben, it's Jeff here. I'll point to the execution of the turbine count and the amount of turbines we've actually got generating power, and the trajectory of the execution. I think that gives us confidence here leading into Q4. And so we're really pleased with that. And our forecast is, look, you need the wind turning and the turbines installed and we're well on our way with that and turning. So we're happy with that. I think we're really confident that we won't require an equity injection.
But look, as we get in and we see the wind in Q4, that'll be the key item. And that's why we've got some incremental capacity there as well. That's prudent and that provides us flexibility. But we fully expect to be on in Q4 and it really comes down to wind. But we've got capacity there that we talked about earlier. So we're feeling like we're in a good place on that.
Christine Healy, President and CEO
I guess I would add to that, Ben, that if it's helpful, because of the way the project is designed, many of the parts of the project operate independently of one another. So even if we had a problem with a turbine or two, it's not going to affect the whole field. So that redundancy in that design I think is actually an advantage. That probably is maybe deep into the details, but it means that, you know, because of that it's not sort of off a cliff in terms of if there's a turbine that's out of commission for some days or weeks, the overall picture from the field is strong.
Benjamin Pham, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets
Yeah, got it. Thanks for that. I just want to shift to the battery storage side of Northland Power. And you referenced the Jurassic BESS project now nearing commissioning. Can you talk perhaps as you think forward with the larger Polish storage projects under construction? Is there any lessons you can share with us investment community coming off of Jurassic and maybe with Oneida as well?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Well, you know what, every project we try to learn as we go through the project and then how do we get better? And we spend a lot of time inside the company on lessons learned and try to harvest all the things that we think we did well and the things that we would like to improve. So, you know, one of the tests I always ask myself and to the teams is if we were building Oneida today, for instance, would we build it differently? And I think we would do it better.
I think we did Oneida very, very well. But there were a lot of things we didn't know. So we built in extra redundancies. We took a different approach on foundations, some of it kind of deeply technical, but every single project makes us better. And so that's part of the reason that we were confident to go into Poland and to deliver in the storage market there. And it's part of the reason why we're looking really carefully at Spain that has a clear need for battery storage and, frankly, very clear and quick regulatory processes to be able to deliver on that.
So we like that. And I think we are, you know, we've done a very good job, I would say. I don't say that often, but I think on those battery projects, Oneida was first of its kind. But I think we see now with Jurassic, once we see two in a row, that starts to make a bit of a pattern.
Benjamin Pham, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets
Okay, that's good context. Thank you.
OPERATOR
Thank you. And our next question comes from Nelson Ng of RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open.
Nelson Ng, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets
Great, thanks. And good morning, everyone. So just a quick one on Hailong. In terms of the new debt financing or additional debt financing for Hailong, can you just comment in terms of how much room there is to optimize the existing debt in the future? And also with the new debt that was raised, is there room to optimize that in terms of the credit margin? I know in your European offshore wind farms there have been several opportunities to narrow the credit margin over time.
So just wondering in terms of near-term and longer-term opportunities to optimize the debt there.
Jeff Hart (Chief Financial Officer)
Yeah, Nelson, that's something we're always looking at. And what I'll say is we view that always as upside to the plan and optimizations that we can then, you know, ultimately optimize our funding capabilities in those projects. But yeah, that's something that we look at longer term. I mean the tenor on the debt is about 20 years. We've got longer-dated contracts than that. So there's always ways to manage that. And I think you kind of typically look at two times where you can do really obvious ones: it's COD and then after a little bit of operations.
I think with the execution we've been seeing and the way the project is performing, it allowed us to maybe get out in advance of COD and work a few things, number one. And then number two, as we get in and we see operations here and continue to execute, I think there's time at that time we can go back with operating performance and tighten there, and like I've said, we've got room on the tenor as well.
Nelson Ng, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets
Got it, thanks. And then Christine, you mentioned that the Ontario market sounds pretty competitive since you weren't really hitting your return hurdles in the last round of bids. But moving to Alberta, I know those projects are structured differently. But now with Jurassic, the battery storage project nearing completion, can you just provide a bit of an update on the other projects in Alberta like Jurassic Solar and Kalasar.
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Yeah, so we have an overall discussion ongoing here around Alberta. I think it's a really interesting market. I think that certainly there's the potential for a lot of demand growth in Alberta. It's a little bit a question of timing and making sure that we can deliver effectively there. I like our position in Alberta right now. I think that we have a position that we can grow on. It's just a question really of what's the right sequencing and timing for that.
And we're continuing to look at other opportunities in Alberta because, frankly, I think the team has done a really good job on Jurassic BESS, which gives me again more confidence to be delivering on projects in Alberta. So we're looking at that pretty closely. But I don't have a lot more to say about it right now.
Nelson Ng, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets
Great, thanks. We'll wait for the more fulsome update in Q3. I'll leave it there, thanks.
OPERATOR
Thank you. And our next question comes from Robert Hope of Scotiabank. Your line is open.
Robert Hope, Analyst at Scotiabank
Morning, everyone. Let's start off with Canada. So we've covered Alberta and Ontario. Let's go a little east. Northland was named as a qualified entity for WindWest. What would you need to see to be, call it, more enthusiastic on offshore wind in Canada, potentially Nova Scotia?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Thanks for the question. Well, I will say, you know, this is where the heart and the brain maybe go in two different directions because of course I am myself from Newfoundland. I would love for us to be doing offshore wind in Atlantic Canada. It would make my heart sing. But the numbers need to make my brain happy too. And the numbers fundamentally come back to pricing the risk. I would say our recent experiences: Poland is an example of a market where we are the first offshore wind project, and we know what it took to get there and to do that.
And it's frankly no small feat. We also have in parallel the Hailong project in Taiwan, where we were not the first in the market, but it is a more geographically remote market where there's not the same buildout of supportive capabilities that we see in Europe, because in Europe there's been offshore wind developed for a long time. So we saw, even just practically speaking—maybe a little anecdotal example—is that if we needed an expert to have a look at something and give us an answer for Poland, we can get them there in two hours.
And in Taiwan it would take a day and a half or maybe two days. And that seems like on an individual case not a big deal, but when you're talking about a 1 gigawatt project that starts to sequentially add time all the time. So all of that is a long way of saying for Nova Scotia: great wind resource, which is sort of the starting of the conversation. But it is not an area that has a lot of experience—any experience—in offshore wind. The permitting process is, frankly, a bit opaque.
We see the government trying to do some things around that and, you know, we're hopeful that that's going to be clear all the way through. And I think we need to see a pricing structure that gives us the certainty we need as an investor. And so we're working with government on that. We've been involved in that process for quite a while. We will continue to be involved. I think there's a high level of goodwill amongst everybody to find good solutions.
It's frankly a great resource and it would be a shame to leave it untapped. So I would very much like to see it. But, you know, we got to understand the terms a bit better.
Robert Hope, Analyst at Scotiabank
Appreciate that. And then maybe a bit more of a broader question, what does the M&A environment look like right now either for operating assets or development assets? Is that something you're focusing on as well as could we see some monetizations as well as a funding mechanism on a longer-term basis?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
You know what, we're always in the M&A market. We're always scanning for opportunities. We talk internally about the fact that I've been very happy with these Polish battery projects. We bought those at the right time for us. So it was before major contracts had been entered into. It was when we could still shape the project. But a lot of the early-phase work had been done and done very well by the original proponent. So that's a good space for us to come into.
We can execute on that really well and we can deliver the projects very well and then operate them over the long term. So I like that space for us. So we continue to look for things that sort of hit that sweet spot for us in a variety of markets. And then on the other side of divestments, we are always looking at what are the right opportunities and are we the right owner. And, you know, because we're in a stable financial situation, there's no urgency or panic around that.
But certainly there are some areas where we could optimize.
OPERATOR
Thank you. And our next question comes from Mark Jarvi of CIBC. Your line is open.
Mark Jarvi, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets
Thanks. Good morning, everyone. Christine, how would you frame how growth efforts have materialized since the Investor Day? I know you're going to give an update with Q3, but in terms of what you're seeing out there as achievable returns. Some of the enhancement projects you tabled at the Investor Day, how do you feel like this is all progressing at this point?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
So I'm pretty pleased actually. So we did internally a restructure in the company to create one growth organization. So that, back to the sort of there's an internal competition for capital, we had previously been divided by technology and a little bit subdivided by geography. So people were bringing forward sort of the best opportunity in Ontario as opposed to the best opportunity in the global portfolio. And so I felt like that was not being as efficient as we needed to be.
And it meant that our teams were sort of chasing some things that ultimately we knew were not going to meet our thresholds. So not to pick on any one particular geography, by the way, but we just need to look at that holistically across the whole portfolio. So we reorganized to create this global approach and we also have put the value enhancement projects under that same umbrella. So, in fact, the new projects are also in competition with the value enhancement initiatives.
So you'll probably see that our next announcements will be more around value enhancement projects just because they're shorter cycle, less capital intensity. But there are other, I would say, development and construction projects coming right behind them—sort of greenfield. No, I'm not allowed to say greenfield and brownfield. We say value enhancements and new builds. But okay, new build projects are also coming quickly through the pipeline. So that tension on the line is exactly something that we want to keep.
So we do see—to answer your question much more briefly than I have so far—that we do see quite a few opportunities where we can deploy our capital.
Mark Jarvi, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets
And when you give the update in the fall, are these specific project updates, or is this general—just a re-ranking of priority markets or opportunities and timelines?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Well, you know what, I'm not going to front-run our investment committee decisions, but I think there will probably be a bit of a combination of both.
Mark Jarvi, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets
Got it. And then just how are you thinking about Asia right now? Commentary in the MD&A around Korea is again that you've kind of walked back from that market, didn't see a path forward. Are you looking to apply into the tenders in Taiwan? Are your partners presenting interesting opportunities in the area?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
So we've been very focused on Europe and Canada in the near term, I guess when I sort of look at it in horizons, you know, so in the near-term horizon it's executing on the projects that we have. Then the medium term is sort of the next phase of growth projects, and then longer term I am very enthusiastic about Asia. It's just a question of when and the scale of project. There are some really—I think I mentioned before—there are some large interconnection projects that are being undertaken in Southeast Asia that open up a lot more market accessibility and attractive pricing.
So we're watching that with some keen interest. And, you know, we like being in Asia, we would like to do more in Asia. It's a question of when. And right now we just see attractive opportunities to deploy quickly and with good returns in Europe and in Canada.
Mark Jarvi, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets
So are you continuing to put some development dollars, early-stage dollars to work in Asia? Do you keep staffing up there, or do you just kind of run lean for the time being in that region?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
So we, you know, we have leaders who are in Asia right now who are looking after and running our Hai Long project. And part of their mandate is also to be continually scanning and looking at other opportunities. We have ongoing discussions with partners and potential partners. So I would say we keep a watching brief. We don't staff up. There's no staffing up on anything in Northland Power. We run pretty lean on all of our growth aspirations, but we do have some people who are watching and, you know, we very quickly scan and assess opportunities, and if things become interesting for us, then we'll put a team on it.
Mark Jarvi, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets
Okay, thanks for the time today.
OPERATOR
Thank you. And our next question comes from Heidi Hausch of BNP Paribas. Your line is open.
Heidi Hausch, Analyst at BNP Paribas
Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. There's been some recent announcements from some of your Canadian power peers on agreements to provide power to hyperscalers. How do you view the opportunity to contract directly with hyperscalers? This is a future new build, be it in Alberta or elsewhere. And is there appetite for that? Are you in discussions with hyperscalers? Just kind of curious how you're thinking about that.
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Yeah, thanks for the question. We do talk to the hyperscalers. I think the decisions in Alberta around the tethering rules actually open up a lot more possibilities and give us more certainty as an investor. So that's helpful. That was a positive change. So we continue to have discussions with them, and I think that we can deliver solutions that match some of their needs. But at what pace those are going to mature and in what geographies, I think it would be a bit early or premature for me to say.
Heidi Hausch, Analyst at BNP Paribas
That's helpful, thanks. And just one quick one: quarter to date, how has offshore generation trended across your existing offshore wind projects?
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Yeah, so this quarter is pretty well up the middle—up the middle of the fairway, I would say. Normally, as we've talked about before, Q4 and Q1 tend to be big wind months in a lot of our geographies. Q3, right now we're sort of—you know, I guess I'm not a golfer, but it's kind of up the middle of the fairway, and, you know, so we'll see and then, you know, what happens through Q4, but right now it's pretty straightforward.
Heidi Hausch, Analyst at BNP Paribas
Great. Thank you.
OPERATOR
Thank you. I show no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn it back to Christine Healy for closing remarks.
Christine Healy, President and CEO
Well, thank you everyone for joining us today. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to speaking with you in November for third quarter results. Thanks again.
OPERATOR
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.
Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice.
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