Scatec Solar has reported a second quarter of strong revenue growth off the back of a 54% increase in power production from its growing fleet of operational PV plants.
The Norway-based independent power producer reported revenue of NOK196 million (US$25.8 million) in the fourth quarter of 2014, up from NOK130 million in the third quarter.
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Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up to NOK133 million, up from NOK79 million in the previous quarter.
Scatec Solar ascribed its strong Q4 performance to a second quarterly increase in the power produced from its portfolio of PV power plants. Its 75MW Dreunberg plant in South Africa reached full production in November 2014.
Over 2014, Scatec Solar saw a number of PV plants reach completion, with the total power produced from its operational portfolio reaching 113,812MWh in Q4 2014 compared to 44,686MWh in the same quarter of 2013.
This fact helped boost the company’s overall earnings for the year to NOK476 million, up from NOK129 million in 2013.
For the full year, operating expenses increased to NOK178 million from NOK133 million last year. Scatec Solar said this was largely due to the beginning of operations of new plants in South Africa and Rwanda and increased spending on development and construction activities elsewhere.
“2014 has been another busy year for Scatec Solar. It is very satisfying to see that we continue to deliver strong growth and that we move our projects from the backlog into construction. We are building a solid portfolio of solar power plants that will deliver clean and reliable electricity in many years to come. At the same time we are, together with our partners, continuing to develop new projects in several promising solar markets,” said Raymond Carlsen, chief executive of Scatec Solar.
Last autumn, Scatec Solar underwent a successful flotation on the Oslo stock exchange. The company is targeting 750MW of operation PV capacity worldwide by 2016.
Project update
In its Q4 report, the company said it was making good headway towards this target, with 220MW now complete in the Czech Republic, South Africa and Rwanda, and 207MW of further projects in the USA, Honduras and Jordan expected to begin construction in the first quarter of 2015.
Worldwide, the company has a project pipeline of almost 660MW, in countries including Mexico, Ghana, Mali, Namibia, Egypt and the Ivory Coast.
However, due to problems with utilities blocking the connection of solar projects in Japan, Scatec Solar said it had decided to discontinue planned development activities in this country.
Scatec Solar’s chief executive Raymond Carlsen is interviewed in the new issue of PV Tech Power. To read the publication, click here.
