{"id":99200,"date":"2022-07-27T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T12:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/?p=99200"},"modified":"2022-07-05T13:31:16","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T17:31:16","slug":"utility-scale-contractor-translates-wind-expertise-to-growing-solar-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/2022\/07\/utility-scale-contractor-translates-wind-expertise-to-growing-solar-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Utility-scale contractor translates wind expertise to growing solar market"},"content":{"rendered":"

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives (IEA)<\/a> is a major force in heavy civil construction. Through its subsidiary White Construction, the company is consistently battling with market leader Mortenson for the top wind power EPC in the country. It\u2019s really no surprise that after constructing well over 23 GW of wind projects across the United States and Canada, IEA thought it was time to get more invested in the solar industry.<\/p>\n

Joe Broom, senior VP of solar, said IEA (No. 19 on the 2022 Top Solar Contractors list<\/a>)<\/strong> had worked on solar projects in the past, mostly in Canada, but the focus shifted in 2019 to the expanding U.S. market.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201c[IEA] had dabbled in solar, but wind was their bread and butter,\u201d he said. \u201cThe board made a strategic decision to target other renewable segments, notably solar. They gave me a five-year annual operating plan and we basically met that in Year 3. The solar market, despite all of the challenges, remains very robust because there aren\u2019t enough quality EPCs in the market to handle all of the work that\u2019s in the queue.\u201d<\/p>\n

IEA initially took on projects under 100 MW to \u201cget the confidence back up,\u201d Broom said. Today, the company is more streamlined, only working with two or three component suppliers to fully learn effective installation processes to finish projects efficiently and quickly. IEA is now bidding on much larger projects and keeping very busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne quarter this year, our solar revenues were on par with the wind revenues,\u201d Broom said. \u201cIt\u2019s not surprising to me, but I think [to others at IEA], it\u2019s kind of a shock to the system,\u201d especially since wind contracts are staying steady even though the United States is transitioning to an offshore construction market.<\/p>\n

While Broom describes White Construction\u2019s dominance in the wind construction market as something the company fell into after subcontracting on an early wind farm, the company\u2019s rise in the solar charts is working according to plan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWhen we went public [in 2018], it gave us an opportunity to bring in board members with skill sets and expertise in other industries. That\u2019s the strategy: to not put all your eggs in one basket, to look at other segments \u2014 solar being a perfect example,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve also started a battery storage practice, so we\u2019re planting seeds. We\u2019re doing a lot organically to broaden our growth into renewables, not just specifically wind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broom said one of the advantages of working with a large company is leveraging its workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is one of the top constraints in the market \u2014 the availability of labor. We already have a labor force on the wind side that we can easily cycle through on the solar side,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile labor is a challenge, and of course we would like to pull in as many local hires as we can on these projects, we still have a good abundance of labor within our current ranks that we can leverage. That\u2019s been the secret sauce as to why we\u2019ve been able to make the pivot and grow so rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n

While solar may be a stronger focus for IEA right now, the company is not forgetting about wind.<\/p>\n

\u201cInternally, there\u2019s still a tremendous amount of excitement on wind,\u201d Broom said. \u201cEvery week we go through the opportunities for wind and solar, and sure, wind may be getting a little tougher but there are still opportunities out there. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve reduced the amount of bidding effort on the wind side. But we\u2019ve certainly amped up the bidding effort on the solar side.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

This story was featured exclusively in our 2022 Top Solar Contractors issue. See the issue and full list of top U.S. solar installers here.\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives (IEA) is a major force in heavy civil construction. Through its subsidiary White Construction, the company is consistently battling with market leader Mortenson for the top wind power EPC in the country. It\u2019s really no surprise that after constructing well over 23 GW of wind projects across the United States and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":99204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[3004,5117,3943,5423,5120],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUtility-scale contractor translates wind expertise to growing solar market<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives (IEA) is a major force in heavy civil construction. 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