According to Reuters article published on January 5, 2023, U.S. solar and wind projects driven by passage of the Inflation Reduction Act likely will not be seen until late 2023 or 2024, power and renewables construction company MasTec Inc (MTZ.N) CEO Jose Mas said on Thursday.
For the first part of the year, renewable power construction will likely consist of holdover projects from 2022 that were hampered by supply chain restraints and a federal investigation into solar panel sourcing, Mas told investors at a Goldman Sachs conference in Miami.
"While the IRA is going to lift the industry by a pretty significant level, it's going to take time for it to start impacting the market relative to seeing it on people's income statements and balance sheets," Mas said. The new law, seen as the biggest climate change package in U.S. history, creates major tax incentives for clean energy.
The supply of solar panels, in particular, has been struggling to keep up with demand, Mas said.
"If double the panels were available, then we'd have double the work because the demand is that great," Mas said. The majority of MasTec's projected 35% growth in its renewables business this year will come from solar, he added.
In 2024, with IRA incentives and planned transmission line construction opening up new wind corridors, MasTec expects a jump in its wind-power business.
An investigation by the Commerce Department into whether imports of solar panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam circumvent tariffs on goods made in China slowed work in 2022, Mas said. With the effects of that investigation easing, many of last year's projects will begin in 2023, he added.
Coral Gables, Florida-based MasTec, one of the largest renewable contractors in the country, has largely transitioned its work away from oil and gas to renewable power in recent years.
