Northern Power Systems has announced financial results for its first quarter of 2018. Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were $1.6 million, compared to $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2017.
Order backlog at the end of the first quarter was $7 million, compared to $30 million for the prior year first quarter.Its distributed wind business continues to face significant challenges in its historical core markets, particularly Italy and in other evolving, but strategic, markets such as the US and Germany. In Italy, continued uncertainty regarding the formation of a new government and the timing and nature of a new feed-in-tariff for distributed wind has halted Italy-based sales and revenue generating activities. In the US, the budget bill passed in February 2018 by Congress provided a multi-year extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for small wind systems (100 kW and below). With the passage of the legislation, certain purchasers of the Northern Power 100kW turbine can now avail themselves of a 30% tax credit. The company anticipates that the Italian market for its distributed wind solutions will re-open in the fourth quarter of 2018. With the re-opening of the Italian market, together with sales from other markets, they anticipate that its distributed wind business will be positioned to rebound in 2019.
