BYD, a Chinese company active in solar module, electric vehicles (EVs) and stationary battery production, has announced a large supply deal for a 75MW solar farm in Queensland signed with Biosar, a subsidiary of Greek construction group AKTOR.
The company stated that it would deliver its half-cell solar PV panels with 18.8% average power which, it claims, is 3% higher than the output of conventional PV modules.
The 75MW Childers Solar Farm, located in South East Queensland, will be BYD’s largest project in Australia.
The project achieved financial close in January this year, as announced by Australian developer ESCO Pacific and U.K. hedge fund Elliot Advisors. It is expected to generate about 13.6 million kWh annually, and provide sustainable green power to 65,000 Queensland families.
The US$ 30 million (about 200 million RMB) deal comes as a further push for the company’s growing solar and battery divisions, as confirmed by the company’s mixed financial results for 2017.
Namely, the company posted a squeeze on overall financials, although its solar and battery divisions saw a revenue increase of 18,85% against 2016 to reach RMB 8,442 million (US$1.34 billion).
However, according to BYD chairman Wang Chuan-fu, the solar division is still a loss-maker for BYD due to the “intensified market competition” in the PV arena.
Overall, BYD’s net profit declined by 19.5% in 2017 (down to RMB 4.07 billion) compared to the year prior, which came as a result of February’s subsidy cuts for new energy vehicles, the industry in which the company had invested heavily.
For the same reason, BYD expects its first quarter net profit for 2018 to be between 75 and 92% lower than in the same period last year.
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