Wind fails to ease Aqualis’ pain

Aqualis made a loss of $2.4m in the first quarter of 2016, despite a strong start to the year for its renewable energy interests.

The company said its offshore wind market position had “strengthened in a tightened market” and it continues to “build and expand its client base”.

It has a “reasonable” project pipeline predicted through to 2020 in northern Europe and, further ahead, will explore opportunities in China, Taiwan and Thailand.

In solar, Aqualis has a 49.9% stake in Adler Solar. Business is “typically weaker” in the winter months because of the cold weather making on-site work difficult, the company said.

However, it expects demand for services to pick up in the spring and summer in Germany and “should continue to grow as the installed solar farms age”.

The photovoltaic market has slowed in the UK because of the reduction in the feed-in tariff but there is increasing interest in operations and maintenance in Japan, Aqualis said.

Total revenues were down in the first quarter compared with the same period last year at $6.9m, compared with $11.4m.

Aqualis chief executive officer David Wells said: “The O&G market started the year slower and weaker than we expected, particularly in January and February.

“By contrast the markets for offshore renewables and solar have started the year firmly justifying our decision not to rely on a single market.”

Image: reNEWS