For the first time First Solar became the world's largest solar EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor in 2012, with more than 500MW of projects completed - an increase of 50% over 2011, according to IMS Research. The research institute also revealed that a major shift in global rankings occurred in 2012 due to the explosive growth witnessed in Asia and the Americas at the expense of Europe. Just four Europe-based EPCs appeared in IMS Research's top 10 rankings for 2012.
US companies come out on top
Two other US-based EPCs - SunEdison and SunPower - also featured in the top 15, installing 390MW and 190MW respectively, according to IMS Research.
"Because of the dramatic shift in demand away from Europe, non-Europe companies are now completing vast numbers of solar projects around the world. Last year, just four of the top 10 EPCs and system integrators were based in Europe due to the large project business of US, China- and India-based companies. Back in 2010, seven of the top 10 EPCs were Europe-based," commented Ash Sharma, senior director of solar research at IMS Research.
First Solar and SunEdison were found to have benefited from the huge utility-scale solar pipeline being constructed both in the US and many other countries over a number a years, including the 550MW Topaz Solar Farm and the 290MW Agua Caliente Solar Project.
The rise of Asia
Asia-based EPCs also featured heavily again in the 2012 rankings, most notably China-based companies linked to state-owned utilities and industrial companies that benefited from massive domestic demand in ground-mount projects.
"Four of the 10 largest EPCs last year were China-based companies. There were another eight that appeared in the top 30. These companies are likely to see continued gains as their domestic market continues to grow rapidly and the China market remains largely impenetrable to foreign firms," explained Sharma.
Interestingly, an India-based company, Larsen & Toubro, appeared in the top 10 ranking for the first time. Larsen & Toubro is estimated to have completed nearly 200MW of projects in 2012, nearly double the amount completed the year before. Like their China-based counterparts, India-based EPCs remain in an excellent position to capitalize on the high growth of domestic ground-mount projects.
Europe-based EPCs will not disappear
Despite Europe-based EPCs slipping down the rankings, the vast majority of solar EPC and system integrators are still located in Europe. In fact, 11 of the 30 largest EPCs last year were Europe-based, installing 2GW of new capacity between them. These same companies are also becoming increasingly active in new emerging markets around the world including Latin America and Asia.
"Despite all of the dramatic changes in the EPC landscape in 2012, one thing remains constant: the industry remains incredibly fragmented. First Solar's EPC business represented just 2% of the total market and the top 30 EPCs only accounted for 24% of the global projects business - roughly the same as 2011," concluded Sharma.
