Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd.
(
STP
) in collaboration with Bangchak recently brought South East Asia's
largest silicon photovoltaic 44 megawatt ("MW") power plant online.
The project, known as Sunny Bangchak, is located in Bang Pa-In,
Ayutthaya, which is forty kilometers away from Bangkok, Thailand.
Bangchak Public Petroleum Co. Ltd ("BCP") is the owner of the PV
project. The project was constructed by engineering, procurement
and construction partner Solartron Public Co., Ltd. It utilizes
Suntech's high performance solar panels. Suntech's high-efficiency
solar panels are best suitable for Thailand's hot and humid
climate.
Besides minimizing the need to import about 40,000 tons of coal,
the plant will offset 32,000 tons of CO2 emissions, which is almost
equal to removing 9,000 cars from the roads or planting of
3,000,000 trees. The project will help Thailand to meet 20% of its
total energy consumption with renewable sources by 2022.
The Thai oil company BCP runs the business of refining crude oil
from the Middle East, the Far East as well as from domestic
sources. Bangchak is dedicated to the growth of renewable energy
technologies.
Suntech Power Holdings produces industry-leading solar products for
residential, commercial, industrial, and utility applications. The
company aims to provide reliable access to nature's cleanest and
most abundant energy source to everyone. Recently, Suntech Power
entered into a contract with Solarstrom AG. As per the terms
of the contract, the former will deliver approximately 26 MW of
monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels to the latter.
Suntech Power is one of the largest producers of PV solar modules
in the world. Its consistent focus on tapping new markets has led
to lower dependancy on its prime markets of Germany, Greece, the
Czech Republic, the Benelux Region and Italy. As a result, although
absolute megawatts shipped to those markets rose, the proportion of
total sales gradually spread across new markets like Israel,
Thailand and Australia. Moreover, its predominantly China-focused
manufacturing base gives it a distinct cost advantage compared to
its U.S. and European peers.
Besides, helping the companies in providing clean energy, the
company is focusing on reducing its production cost and operating
expenses. A few days back, the company had closed a portion of its
solar cell production capacity in Wuxi, China for the time being.
Excluding non-recurring items, the company intends to reduce its
operating expenses by 20% year over year. Also, the company targets
to create a sustainable business model as well as return to
positive operating cash flow in 2013 with the help of these
attempts.
Other positive factors include ongoing expansion programs, higher
conversion efficiency through its Pluto technology-enabled modules,
China's subsidy program and improving operating efficiencies.
However, we remain on the sidelines due to tepid module demand in
Europe, rising competition, volatile euro and the financial
stability of its customers. The company presently retains a
short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) that corresponds with our long-term
Neutral recommendation on the stock.
The company mainly competes with
First Solar Inc.
(
FSLR
) and
ReneSola Ltd.
(
SOL
).
FIRST SOLAR INC (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis
Report
RENESOLA LT-ADR (SOL): Free Stock Analysis
Report
SUNTECH PWR HLD (STP): Free Stock Analysis
Report
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