Nextpower (NXT) BNP Paribas Annual Power Up Conference summary

Market outlook and demand

• Panelists described strong near-term demand, supported by data-center, manufacturing and industrial load growth, alongside policy and trade headwinds.

• Sol Systems cited projected U.S. electricity-demand growth of 12%-19% over five years; its CEO expects solar to supply a substantial share, though not all, of the added generation.

• SOLV Energy reported an ~$8.5B backlog covering a 24-30 month deployment window; projects were moving forward with products secured, and incoming demand continued to replenish backlog.

• DESRI expected to build four projects larger than 300MW in 2025, versus one before 2024; it cited about 10GW operating or under construction.

• SOLV Energy sees potential for a 50-60GW market, with demand, supply-chain readiness and larger project scale supporting deployment.

Supply chain, costs and policy

• Section 232 tariffs and executive actions affecting Chinese products created procurement and project-design challenges; panelists said teams were navigating them while demand remained strong.

• Dan Shugar reported a $5.5B backlog and record revenue in the prior quarter, plus more than $300M of battery backlog; inverter and battery acquisitions expanded the product portfolio.

• U.S. manufacturing buildout included 35 factories supported by manufacturing partners; a double-digit-GW inverter facility was planned to become operational in summer 2027.

• DESRI said higher financing, commodity and labor costs were lifting PPA prices; it viewed renewables as competitive with alternatives and did not expect medium-term equipment availability to constrain projects.

• DESRI planned to raise about $10B in project finance in 2025; it identified human capital, project underwriting and development readiness as constraints, while describing capital markets as strong.

Storage and grid integration

• Dan Shugar said batteries can support weak or capacity-constrained grids, manage intermittent data-center loads and help bring new customers online without fully islanded systems.

• A 1.3GW battery application for a learning center was in fulfillment; a delivered 200MW/800MWh system in Boise helped Idaho Power serve a chip factory and other customers during peak hours.

• SOLV Energy said nearly every plant it builds now includes storage and expects storage to reshape solar deployment over the next five to 10 years, including in urban areas and at substations.

• Dan Shugar cited 15GW of operating battery systems in Texas and California, saying storage can absorb excess solar and support grid value as solar penetration rises.

• Panelists warned that transmission and interconnection constrain faster growth; DESRI cited three-to-six-year interconnection timelines and two-to-four-year permitting processes.