Sterling & Wilson

The 1.36 GW of solar capacity installed by Shanghai Electric across just three projects in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 helped it enter an annual ranking of the global solar industry’s biggest engineering, procurement, and construction contractors.

Albanian utility KESH has secured funding for its 12.9 MW floating solar plant and, in Spain, the Port of Malaga is planning a 2.1 MW floating facility. Construction began on two unsubsidized solar plants in Germany and Portugal. Enel and Sterling & Wilson will build two large solar plants in Peru and the US, respectively.

U.S.-owned business intelligence firm Wood Mackenzie has attempted to evaluate the market opportunities offered by the repowering of solar projects around the world which feature inverters which are 10 years old – as well as those which will expire ahead of time.

Although the Wiki-solar website ranking only gives a snapshot of PV project engineering, procurement and construction contracts outside China, it is nevertheless a useful indicator of the changing shape of the global solar market.

China’s slowdown in installations last year was more than made up for by expansion elsewhere, according to IHS Markit. The news comes amid increasing market fragmentation – with the biggest engineering, procurement and construction business boasting less than 3% market share – and internationalization, with almost half of the top 15 companies operating across more than one region.

Around US$1 billion is expected to be raised in the sale of up to 30% of Sterling & Wilson’s solar engineering arm. The funds will come from a pre-listing stake sale followed by an initial public offering (IPO), and will be used to reduce the debt of the 153-year-old conglomerate.

With declining costs, and increasing amounts of solar+storage added to electrical grids across the globe, there is a growing need to understand how to build bankable projects. In a recent pv magazine webinar, we discussed just this.

The nation installed 4.9 GW of solar, surpassing the USA – which installed 4.7 GW – to become the second largest solar market in the first half of the year, second only to China’s 24.3 GW.

Indian solar EPC Sterling and Wilson says it wants to construct 200 MW of PV in Kazakhstan in the next two years, and is eager to get a slice of the Uzbek market too.

One of the highlights of this year’s Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) and the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), which forms part of ADSW, was Wednesday evening’s Middle East Solar Awards Ceremony, organized by MESIA, the Middle East Solar Industry Association.