Global O&M market for utility-scale solar seen at 390 GW in 2020

The operations and maintenance (O&M) market for utility-scale PV will hit 390 GW globally by 2020, according to a new report by GTM Research and SoliChamba Consulting.

In 2015, the market is estimated at 133 GW. Over 50% of that capacity has been installed in the last two years alone, says the report. The table below shows the MW-scale PV O&M market in 2015 by plant activation year.

The O&M business, unlike EPC, remains attractive even when new construction slows, report author Cedric Brehaut noted. He gives as example Germany, where the addressable O&M market for MW-scale plants surpassed 11 GW in 2015. Installation this year, in contrast, are forecast to miss the government target of 2.4 GW-2.6 GW.

The 390 GW of O&M by 2020 will be served by a variety of business models and vendors, GTM and SoliChamba noted. They said there is a trend of separation between operators and maintenance providers in specific markets as the two segments require very different competencies and infrastructures. Asset management is already distinct from O&M in most cases.

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