Indian Solar EPC Expanding Market Presence Globally

• SWSL has expanded its presence in the Australian market with a step up investment enabling it to make GCO Solar the direct subsidiary of SWFZCO
• It has also secured a $127.5 million contract in Egypt from an unidentified Saudi Arabian renewable energy company
• The company's unaudited financial results for 9M/2021 show it had an order inflow of 1.5 GW amounting to INR 61.16 billion between April 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020

Sterling and Wilson Solar Limited (SWSL), a global solar EPC services provider headquartered in India, is strengthening its presence internationally capitalizing on the growing influence of solar PV technology in various energy markets.

One of the company's subsidiaries, Sterling and Wilson International Solar FZCO (SWFZCO) has acquired a 100% stake in GCO Solar Pty. Ltd., an Australia located electrical and solar contractor, with a step-up acquisition. Earlier it owned 76% stake in GCO Solar. In a stock exchange filing, SWSL said now GCO is a direct wholly owned subsidiary of SWFZCO.

SWSL said this acquisition will increase synergy for its operations in Australia where among other projects, it is building the 'largest' solar farm developed by France's Neoen with 460 MWDC/400 MW AC capacity. This Western Downs Green Power Hub is to be accompanied by a 150 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) (see NEXTrackers For Australia's Largest Solar Farm).

Elsewhere in the world, SWSL recently won a solar EPC contract for a project of unidentified capacity in Egypt worth $127.5 million. Informing the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) about the contract, the company said the project is to come up in Kom Ombo region and has been awarded by a leading Saudi Arabian renewable energy company whose name wasn't identified. SWSL said the project is scheduled to be commissioned by Q1/2022.

In Kom Ombo, Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power is to develop and operate 200 MW Kom Ombo Solar PV Plant under a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed with the Egyptian government (see ACWA Power Secures PPA For 200 MW Egypt PV Plant).

Sharing the company's 9M/2021 unaudited financial results, SWSL said it wants to stay focused on the high margin O&M business in domestic and international markets for both in-house EPC and 3^rd party clients. Since most of its clients are looking at significant capacity additions, it remains confident of the opportunities going ahead.

During the reporting period (April 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020), SWSL had an order inflow of 1.5 GW amounting to INR 61.16 billion ($840 million) with revenues from operations increasing by 6% YoY to INR 37.16 billion ($510 million). Management added that its gross margins have come under pressure due to increase in commodity and freight costs, its order backlog remains robust with gross unexecuted order value exceeding INR 87 billion ($1.2 billion) as on December 31, 2020.

In January 2021, SWSL commissioned a 25 MW solar project in Oman for global oil giant Shell in Sohar Freezone (see India PV News Snippets: EDEN, SCCL, Cipla, SWSL, MNRE).