Companies
UPDATE: Energy Infrastructure Builder SOLV Energy Is Set to Go Public
In a Feb. 11 launch, contractor for solar, battery storage and related projects sold 20.5 million shares, raising $512.5 million, with a market value exceeding $5 billion.
SOLV Energy Inc., the San Diego-based firm that has become one of the largest contractors in solar energy infrastructure, battery storage and related transmission construction, launched an initial public stock offering Feb. 11 as it seeks scale and diversification in the growing North America energy sector, accelerated by the data center and artificial intelligence surge.
The contractor sold 20.5 million shares, raising $512.5 million, with a market value exceeding $5 billion. SOLV Energy is trading on the Nasdaq Exchange under the ticker symbol MWH, Funds would be used for debt repayment “and potential merger and acquisition opportunities,” it says.
The firm had net income of $114 million on $1.7 billion of 2025 revenue ending Sept. 30 related to sector EPC work and operations and maintenance, compared to net income of $139,000 on revenue of $1.4 billion the previous year, says its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The company also noted $6.7 billion in backlog.
The contractor says it has built more than 20 GW of solar capacity in about 30 states and ranks at No. 66 on ENR’s Top 400 Contractors list, as well as No. 2 in solar project work and No. 7 in power construction overall.
“Since 2008, we have built more than 500 power plants, representing 20 GW of generating capacity,” SOLV Energy’s filing says, also noting O&M services to 146 operating power plants. The firm was spun off from Swinerton Construction in a $2-billion private equity deal in 2021 led by CEO George Hershman. Company chief operating officer is Kevin Deters, former president of MYR Energy Services and a veteran of large-scale power construction. Former PE owner American Securities will remain the majority shareholder.
Despite Trump administration clean energy policy shifts, solar and battery storage will account for 66% of U.S. power capacity added from 2025 through 2034 compared with 42% in the past decade, says sector research firm Wood Mackenzie. Projects “are easier to permit, use equipment that is more readily available, deliver a lower levelized cost of energy and are faster to build than competing forms of power generation such as gas and nuclear, “ the analysis says.
Hershman sees strong demand for the company’s services, with solar and batteries set to make up two-thirds of new power generation over the next decade, he told Barron's on Feb. 11. “Projections are what they are. They’re always right looking backward. But I’ve been in this business for 18 years and I’ve seen it always overperform projections.”
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Says SOLV Energy: "The combination of growth in the number and capacity of data centers, manufacturing reshoring, increasing use of HVAC caused by more extreme weather, electrification of industrial processes and retirement of existing coal-fired generation facilities are resulting in rapid load growth that cannot be met by existing generation capacity."
In its latest short-term energy outlook released Feb. 10, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said solar is set to be "he fastest-growing source of electricity generation in the U.S," and the main source to meet growing demand largely driven by growing economic activity and data center development, particularly in the Texas, mid-Atlantic and Central and Midwest regions.
“We expect a 17% increase in solar generation in 2026 and an additional 23% increase in 2027, and wind generation increases by 6% and 7%, respectively, over those years,” the agency said.
