Indian EPC Sterling and Wilson: Europe will be our next stop

pv magazine: What impact has the Covid-19 pandemic had on the solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) sector?

Kannan Krishnan: The Covid-19 pandemic has spread and affected countries and industries across the globe. This unprecedented crisis has also impacted the solar industry at large. Business acquisition has not suffered significantly.

More than 4 GW [of] projects have been tendered, of which we have won 1 GW capacity. However, the main challenge has been in terms of execution, due to the disruption in the supply chain. With the resumption [and] supply of solar PV panels and other critical equipment, and the Covid situation stabilizing in some countries, work has started to pick up the pace.

That said, projects in countries like Australia and Chile were not significantly affected, and the work was on, at a slower pace. Whereas, in countries like India, Jordan and Kenya, the work came to a grinding halt in the past few months. However, with the restrictions being lifted gradually in these markets, construction activities have begun and if there is no re-emergence of the virus, we are positive that projects will pick up pace in the second quarter of this year.

To read the full interview, please visit our pv magazine India site.