Norwegian independent power producer Scatec Solar ASA has delivered a solid performance in the first quarter of this year, as it saw turnover and profits grow significantly year-on-year.
The company registered revenue of NOK 276.5 million ($31.8 million) in the period, up from NOK 228.2 million in the same quarter of last year. Ebitda also improved year-on-year from NOK 165 million in the first quarter of last year to NOK 222 million in the latest quarter. Furthermore, the company was able to swing from a net loss of NOK 23 million in the first three months of 2016 to a profit of NOK 31 million in the same period of this year. EBIT also grew year-on-year from NOK 107 million to NOK 160 million. Net debt, on the other hand, decreased year-on-year from NOK 4,210 million to NOK 3,633 million.
Revenue for power production in the quarter, however, was NOK 156 million, ($17.9 million) down from NOK 182 million ($20.9 million) in the first quarter of 2016 and NOK 204 million in the previous quarter. This drop, the company said, was due to the sale of the 104 MW Utah Red Hills solar plant in the United States. Overall, turnover increase for the quarter was attributable to additional revenues from new plants in Jordan, Scatec explained. The company O&M division posted revenue of 14.6 million in the period, slightly up from NOK 13.1 million a year earlier.
Scatec’s project backlog increased from 731 MW in the fourth quarter of 2016 to 1,131 in the latest quarter, while the project pipeline reached 745 MW. The company’s operational PV assets currently have a combined capacity 322 MW, the same amount it had at the end of the previous quarter.
The operational PV plants are located in South Africa (190 MW), Czech Republic (20 MW), Rwanda (8.5 MW), Jordan (43 MW) and Honduras (60 MW). Project backlog is represented by PV projects in Egypt (400 MW), South Africa (480 MW), Malaysia (190 MW), Brazil (150 MW), Honduras (153 MW), Mozambique (40 MW), and Mali (33 MW). Annual revenue from backlog is expected to reach 1,750 million NOK based on 20-25-year PPAs, the company specified.
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The projects of the 745 MW pipeline will be developed in South Africa (430 MW), Pakistan (150 MW), Nigeria (100 MW), Kenya (48 MW), and Burkina Faso (17 MW).
Scatec added it also holds project opportunities, which means projects where a feasibility study and a business case evaluation have been made, with a combined capacity of 1,965 MW in the Americas, Africa and Asia.
Looking forward, the company said it expects to have between 1.3 GW and 1.5 GW of PV operational projects or under construction by the end of 2018, while power production is expected to reach 640 GWh compared to 791 GWh in 2016.
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