May 2 (Reuters) - AES Corp ( AES ) beat Wall Street

estimates for first-quarter profit on Thursday, as the utility

firm benefited from higher contributions from renewables

projects and lower cost of sales.

The Virginia-based company said its renewables unit grew

from last year, benefiting from a global push to adopt cleaner

methods of power generation.

Companies and residents have been looking to capitalize

on the Inflation Reduction Act, a key policy of the Biden

administration, which provides generous tax credits for clean

energy technologies like EVs and solar panels.

The company's earnings were also helped by lower quarterly

cost of sales, down 6.8% to $2.47 billion from the previous

year.

AES ( AES ) mainly operates in the renewables, utilities, energy

infrastructure, and new energy technologies segments in Ohio,

Indiana, and El Salvador.

The Virginia-based company posted an adjusted profit of 50

cents per share in the first quarter, compared to analysts'

estimate of 34 cents per share, according to LSEG data.