Company expects to triple its revenue to R$1.2bn by 2023 with new facilities
09/05/2022
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Everton Fardin — Foto: Divulgação
The shortage of photovoltaic equipment on the Brazilian market is opening up opportunities for Sengi Solar. The company is investing R$440 million to build new factories in Paraná and Pernambuco with the capacity to make 1 gigawatt a year in equipment.
These are Sengi’s first factories in Brazil. The Cascavel unit, in Paraná, is ready and will start operating in September. The Ipojuca unit, in Pernambuco, is scheduled to start operating in July 2023. The company, a subsidiary of Tangipar, will have a capacity of more than 3,000 modules per day.
The investment was made with the company’s own capital, and revenues are expected to reach R$1.2 billion next year, up from R$400 million this year, Sergin’s managing director Everton Fardin told Valor.
“The market is red-hot and lacks options of local, state-of-the-art photovoltaic modules. Sengi intends to bridge this gap and grab a large portion of the market, tripling sales by 2023,” he said.
The company bets on offering the equipment to more than 80 distributors of photovoltaic equipment operating in Brazil. It stands out with short delivery times and local post-sales service, since more than 95% of the equipment in the market comes from centralized factories in China.
As ultra-efficient global supply chains face imbalances due to abrupt factory closures because of Covid-19 and logistical hurdles because of the war in Ukraine, the company’s strategy is focused on local production and regional value chains.
Brazil had been facing a decline in manufacturing in the photovoltaic semiconductor sector since 2019, even during a breakneck growth of the distributed generation and centralized generation markets, the executive said. The focus has gradually shifted to the distribution of products imported from China from local manufacturing.
“Therefore, Sengi Solar’s decision to build two new factories fights back strongly against this scenario and brings more autonomy to the supply chain of such a strategic product for the power industry and the planet’s decarbonization plans.”
The solar power industry is indeed the fastest growing in Brazil. In all, there are 16.4 GW of installed capacity of solar power in large plants and small self-generation projects, according to data by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL).
The investments are expected to generate 500 direct jobs in the two regions where the manufacturing units will be installed. The company invests in the domestic market according to the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) rules, which determine that at least 60% of the products are made in Brazil.
“The manufacturing units were dimensioned within the Industry 4.0 concept. We will produce much faster than the local industry,” he said. “Each process will take less than 25 seconds, including assembly, transformation, and inspection.”
*By Robson Rodrigues — São Paulo
Source: Valor International