Rural energy company Husk Power Systems aims at operational profitability in 2021

Husk Power Systems, a rural energy company operating renewable minigrids in Asia and Africa, has announced that it registered 90 percent growth in revenue in 2020 compared to the previous year, while more than quadrupling its commercial business customers. It is also aiming at turning operationally profitable, on an annual basis, in 2021.

“In the face of a pandemic and a global economic downturn, Husk Power and its customers not only weathered these challenging times but saw record growth that positions the company for an even stronger year ahead,” said CEO Manoj Sinha.

“In 2021, we are forecasting 125 percent revenue growth and expect to become the first minigrid company to become operationally profitable on an annual basis. To continue growth at a CAGR of 100 percent in 2022 and beyond, Husk will raise $50 million in equity and $60 million in debt this year,” he added.

According to Board Chairman Brad Mattson, “Husk proved in 2020 that it can prosper no matter how negative the business environment. It has already grown its asset base by 10x in just over two years and is ready to scale another 10x to 1,000 minigrids. The Board has full confidence in the company’s leadership to secure the next round of funding and become the industry’s first profitable minigrid company.”

In 2019, well before Covid-19 hit, Husk Power had already put in place a comprehensive resilience plan to deal with unexpected externalities such as flooding, supply chain disruptions and adverse government actions. The plan involved identifying secondary sources of revenue, hiring additional staff to cover unexpected events, acquiring distressed projects during the pandemic, and diversifying its supply chain for a variety of components.

Husk Power ended 2020 with more than 5,000 small business customers—a 300 per cent growth over 2019—and expects that number to surpass 12,500 over the next 12 months.

The planning paid off. While average revenue per user (ARPU) of the minigrid industry remains low in Africa, at under $5.00 average across all customer categories, including households and small businesses, according to the Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA), Husk Power’s ARPU by comparison is more than twice the industry average, Sinha said. The company averaged 16 percent compounded annual growth in ARPU from 2017-2020, while ARPU growth in Q4CY2020 was 22 percent compared to the same quarter in 2019.