Uge Intl Ltd (OOTC:UGEIF) (UGE.V) released news today (see full feed) that it was awarded 14 new contracts for Ontario schools with a combined installed capacity of approximately 3 MW and a contract value of more than CAD$3,000,000. UGE is a Canada-based provider of distributed renewable energy solutions to commercial and industrial customers across the globe, focusing primarily on the commercial solar sector. In June, the Company’s CEO Nick Blitterswyk elaborated in detail about the various aspects of UGE in a video series hosted by Executive Casts on GeoInvesting.
- Company Introduction, Core Values and Road Ahead
- Recent Project, Recent Acquisition and Rationale For Exiting the Wind Business
- Important Metrics and Projects Sales Cycle
Nick also spoke about what he felt to be the company’s competitive advantage, as well as trends in the solar industry, how he thinks “solar will drive the ship”.
Competitive Advantage
So, this industry, if I focus on commercial or mid-scale solar, is really still in its infancy in getting off the ground, right? Within that industry, there’s a lot of fragmentation and a lot of small players. One of the things that UGE really does differently is that we’re a developer and a EPC. So, within the organization, we go out and market and sell and develop projects with our clients, and then we have the ability to engineer and build them as well. And in fact, we’re probably the strongest in the industry in that second half of the equation. And through that, you know, we offer a better service to our clients, we capture more revenue, more margin from these projects, and so on. So, that’s really what we’re building ourselves to- we hope- be the leader in this industry going forward.
Industry Trends
You know, we are doing well in scaling up within an industry that itself is at a pretty exciting time. We’ve already talked a few times about solar and the cost curve and what’s happening there. Really I’ll say driven by economies of scale, first and foremost, the industry is doubling just about every two years right now, and then also as that’s happening, efficiencies just keep getting a little bit better each year, so that’s happening, and then battery storage is coming afterwards, so again, kind of increase what we can do for the overall industry. If I step back and look at just one country like the U.S., within that country, there’s many states; within states, there can be several utilities. So I find that every couple months, another region sort of hits the inflection point of making economic sense. So that’s really the trend that’s driving our growth, the industry’s growth. I think that looking at the 21st century, I think number one is that solar will be the dominant form of energy probably by 2030, not that far away. And then I think, by mid-century, I think we’ll think about energy companies that were all the oil and gas companies not long ago, solar is really going to be driving the ship here.
About Nick Blitterswyk
Nick founded UGE with a focus on distributed renewables to address the world’s energy challenges. His leadership and belief in a productive and enjoyable company culture has grown UGE into a global leader. Raised on a Canadian nature reserve, Nick is a Fellow of the Society Actuaries with previous experience at JPMorgan and AIG.
Article by Geo Investing
