India’s solar EPC company Sterling and Wilson has announced plans to enter the solar PV sector in Kazakhstan and is targeting solar PV EPC projects of 200MW in that country until 2020.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Image: A solar panel. Photo courtesy of Neville Micallef/FreeImages.com.

The country expects to secure bids for 180MW of solar PV in October as part of a series of tenders announced by the Kazakhstan government in the beginning of 2018.

Kazakhstan, which intends to reduce its dependency on fossil fuel power generation, is working to increase the share of renewable energy in electric power generation to 3% by 2020 and to 10% by 2030.

Sterling and Wilson CEO-Solar Bikesh Ogra said: “Though Kazakhstan has huge oil reserves, growing energy consumption is one of the drivers behind the growth of renewable energy.

“International Energy Agency has predicted the demand for energy in the country to double up by the year 2035. The Central Asian country’s growing concern of climate change is also one of the factors for the switch to renewables.

“Sterling and Wilson is exploring all options to support the country in meeting its renewable energy targets.”

The company’s subsidiary in Kazakhstan, which has a category I license, will be responsible for execution of solar PV projects.

Currently, Sterling and Wilson is present in the Asian continent outside India, with more than 50MWp of solar PV plants operational in the Philippines, powering more than 30,000 homes, and another 60MWp project is in commissioning phase in Bangladesh.

Sterling and Wilson has nearly 6.14GWp of solar EPC portfolio in several countries, including Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Latin America and the US.

The company is currently constructing a 1,177MWp solar PV plant in Abu Dhabi, which is the world’s largest single location solar PV plant so far.

Sterling and Wilson is also constructing several projects in Zambia, Egypt, Namibia, Niger, Jordan, Argentina, and Morocco.

Sterling and Wilson, which was previously a predominantly India-focused company, now has operations in 30 countries.