Enlight Powers Ahead: Data Center Pivot, Safe Harbor Beat, and a Raised 2026 Outlook
A Record Quarter, a Raised Bar
Enlight Renewable Energy delivered a standout second quarter in 2026, with revenue and income up 55% year-over-year, adjusted EBITDA up 67%, and operating cash flow up 34% to $84 million. CEO Adi Leviatan framed the quarter as a demonstration of the company's platform resilience: “The second quarter marked another period of strong execution, underscoring the resilience of our global platform, the quality of our portfolio and our consistent ability to deliver our business plan.” — Adi Leviatan, CEO · 2026-08-04 That conviction is backed by a guidance raise—revenue now expected at $790–820 million and adjusted EBITDA at $565–585 million, both roughly 4% above prior targets.
The drivers are concrete: the record financial close of the $2.6 billion CO Bar complex, a first-ever U.S. power purchase agreement with Google for the Solstice project, and a safe harbor achievement that blew past the preliminary range to 17.9 factored gigawatts. As Jared McKee noted, “we entered into our first commercial off-take agreement in the U.S. with Google” — Jared McKee, Senior Executive (U.S. Operations) or similar · 2026-08-04—a signal of the growing corporate appetite for clean power.
The Data Center Pivot
The clearest change in Enlight's strategy is the explicit embrace of data centers as a next growth engine. Management outlined a ~2 GW IT pipeline across the U.S., Israel, and Europe, aiming to supply power directly to hyperscalers and colocation operators. As Adi Leviatan put it, “We believe our data center initiative represents the company's next significant growth engine, supporting continued expansion well beyond 2028.” — Adi Leviatan, CEO · 2026-08-04 This builds on Enlight's global platform and execution capability, but so far it is deliberately excluded from the 2028 roadmap—the company insists the next wave of growth will come after the current build-out.
Meanwhile, the safe harbor outcome is a major strategic win. Management had previously guided to 13–17 factored gigawatts; the final count of 17.9 (representing 62% of the U.S. portfolio) shows both the scale of the development pipeline and the selectivity applied. On the Q1 call, CEO Adi Leviatan had flagged the optionality: “We do have the opportunity to safe harbor an additional 2 to 4 factored gigawatt in the next couple of months until basically the end of June.” — Adi Leviatan, CEO · 2026-05-05 That optionality was exercised with discipline, ensuring projects with realistic COD paths were prioritized.
European Storage, Sell-Downs, and Balance Sheet
Enlight also expanded into two new European markets—Finland and Romania—adding 848 MWh of storage (Karpen Cluster) and three Finnish projects totaling 1.4 GWh, with returns in the 16–17% range. This aligns with the surging demand for storage in Europe, and management was explicit that they are moving quickly to capture the revenue stack: “Well, I think anyone in Europe has noticed the heat wave. And I think that the need for energy and for renewable energy, in particular, is at an all-time high.” — Adi Leviatan, CEO · 2026-08-04 The company intends to be an early mover in these nascent storage markets.
On capital allocation, management confirmed there will be no additional sell-downs this year—a shift from the prior pattern of partial asset monetizations. The balance sheet remains well funded: topco cash of $877 million, $418 million of undrawn credit, and over $1.1 billion of available LC/surety facilities. CFO Nir Yehuda highlighted the ~$100 million per quarter operating cash flow run rate, providing internal capital to fund the $8.9 billion construction pipeline.
The business environment in which Enlight operates in is, in our view, the most favorable it has been, and it meets Enlight at its strongest position.
Bottom Line
Enlight's story has shifted from a renewable developer to a vertically integrated power provider targeting the most dependable demand source of the decade—data centers. The safe harbor over-achievement, the first hyperscaler PPA, and the European storage expansion all reinforce the credibility of the 2028 roadmap of $2.2 billion ARR. The key risk is execution: managing a $8.9 billion construction pipeline while pivoting into a new, capital-intensive vertical. But the company's track record of disciplined growth—and the raised guidance—suggests management is confident it can deliver.