The project is worth more than AUD 615 million
Sterling and Wilson Solar (SWSL), a leading solar energy developer, has won an EPC (engineering procurement construction) contract for a solar power project in Australia. The project is worth more than AUD 615 million (Australian Dollars). This equates to more than Rs.3000 crore. The project also entails an AUD 85 million contract for operation and maintenance of the project for a 20 year duration upon commissioning.
Almost 67% of SWSL is owned by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group – a multi-billion dollar conglomerate of 18 big companies. Shapoorji Pallonji is into end-to-end services in six business segments such as Engineering and Construction, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Water and now solar energy. They have a workforce of 70,000 people in over 70 countries across the world.
SWSL entered the Australian market around 15 months ago. With this new project in place, the company’s cumulative investment in the continent in terms of projects underway stands at AUD 1 billion or Rs.4,900 crore. This contract also pulls SWSL out of its debt obligations that it had been facing for a while now and makes it one of the foremost solar EPC players in the market at the moment.
By end of 2019, SWSL was in the list of defaulters, since the company had deferred payment of Rs.2,500 crore in debt. By early April of 2020, SWSL paid Rs.1,500 crore of its debt obligation.
“This is our largest order in Australia and is a culmination of efforts to break new ground in countries like Australia, the US and South America, where we have invested in a strong team,” Bikesh Ogra, CEO of Sterling & Wilson Solar said.
The entity has also signed two projects on home turf in the midst of the COVID pandemic. The projects have been negotiated with global independent power producers (IPP) and cumulatively stand at Rs.620 crore. Despite expanding into global markets, India is still an important playing field for the company which has a strong foothold in the Indian market.
The data centre business is booming around the world, with major players such as Google committing to 100% renewables. Many companies are transforming data centre power sources from fossil fuel based to renewables in order to ensure uninterrupted power supply, lower tariffs and keeping in line with the UN (United Nations) Sustainabile Development Goals (SDG).
“I expect our data centre vertical to contribute significantly to the group top line over the years and close fiscal 2021 with an order book of Rs. 1,500 crore and revenue of Rs. 800 crore. We’re already the country’s largest data centre EPC contractor, offering turnkey projects. With the massive investments coming into this segment from big domestic corporates and also foreign companies, we see huge potential for data centre business,” said Khurshed Daruvala, SWSL group chairman.
The company has built data centres for Vodafone and NSE in Chennai. The entity is also building data centres for some of the major cloud service providers. Data centres are witnessing massive year on year growth and investors have been keeping a close watch on this market.
SWSL is an end-to-end solar EPC and construction solutions provider with a foothold in 25 markets globally. The company also gives operation and maintenance services not just for indigenous projects but for projects constructed by third parties too. The company has established a firm footing in markets such as Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australia.
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