INDUSTRY JEWEL: KN Sreevatsa, Managing Director, Fimer India

Education and Background:

Born and brought up in Kadur, Chikmagalur District in Karnataka, KN Sreevatsa holds an Engineering degree in Electricals & Electronics from Mysore University, India. He has completed advanced management programs from IIM Bangalore and a Senior Leadership Development program from the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Work Experience:

Mr. KN Sreevatsa started his career in a humble way by joining the UPS selling business in early 1994. After a short two-year stint, he joined ABB in 1996. In the next couple of years, he showed exemplary dedication & commitment to his work and he moved from being an MV drives product manager to being promoted to regional sales director in charge of Asia pacific in the MV Drives business. Further, he managed the Complete Drives and PLC business and under his leadership skills, he was soon heading the BU called Power conversion since 2013. From 2010, he was completely in-charge of the Solar business started by ABB.

Under his leadership, ABB was one of the first companies in India to start local manufacturing of solar inverters and gained immense popularity and growth in terms of revenue, sales & outstanding performance. In 2020, he joined the Fimer Group as Managing Director for India.

Current Work Goals and Achievements:

Currently, KN Sreevatsa is heading the India manufacturing unit at Bengaluru. The Bengaluru facility is 100% ‘Make in India’ and is dedicated to central inverters and microgrid products. This facility is also an export-oriented unit supplying central inverters globally across over 100 countries. Under his leadership, Fimer is one of the top inverter suppliers in the world. Fimer has been among the Top 3 Central inverter suppliers in the country continuously for many years. In 2021, the company grew by over 60% and clocked about 2 GW shipments in India.

In his erstwhile days in ABB, while in the drives business the main motto was improving energy efficiency. Under his leadership, the company addressed the key markets for HVAC, Industrial automation, efficient water pumping, etc - thereby introducing variable drives to all above market segments enhancing efficiency and reducing power consumption. The introduction of several new applications resulted in business growth as well as saving potential and impacting consumers on a positive level. Further, Solar inverters and EV charging stations were also introduced keeping long-term future sustainability and proved to be rewarding businesses for the company.

On a personal level, he was awarded exemplary performance in ABB for three consecutive years from 2009-11. He was also recognised as one of the top global business leaders in the drives business in 2011 propelling him to achieve extraordinary professional hallmarks. In 2021, he was awarded the “Business Leader of the year” by a reputed trade media house in the country.

Current Journey with Fimer:

KN Sreevatsa joined Fimer Group in April 2020 as Country Managing Director. Prior to joining Fimer, he was the Senior Vice President & Head of the Solar and EV charging business in India. Sreevatsa has an impressive track record of over 23 years within ABB, covering various positions and developing expertise in P&L management for product lines Drives, Solar, Wind, Traction, EV Charging and UPS.

He is an experienced leader with proven success in Building strong businesses, brands in a competitive environment, with a high focus on People Growth, inclusiveness and building strong performance culture. A strong orientation towards customer focus and quality, market orientation, defining growth strategy for business and aligning the organization encouraging a positive environment.

Fimer is a global leader in Solar Inverter Technology for solar systems and E-mobility solutions. With one of the broadest portfolios of solar and storage solutions for all solar applications, we shape the future of renewable energy. For us investing and working in the solar and e-mobility sectors is a strategic choice for building a better world to leave to future generations. We are committed to leveraging the energy playing field to serve growing demands with clean, affordable energy which truly benefits people and places.

• Global inverter installed base: 55GW+
• Global repair centers: 12 in 5 continents
• Active in EV charging: since 2017, over 54,000+ charging stations installed globally
• Production, R&D sites based out of Italy & India.

Products Offering for the Indian Market:

Fimer has one of the widest portfolios of solar inverters ranging from single and three-phase string inverters up to megawatt-sized central inverters, to meet the needs of any PV application. The offering has been complemented by a series of AC and DC EV charging stations and advanced monitoring solutions.

Market Segments: Grid-tied Solar Inverters for Utility-Scale PV Power Projects, Rooftop Solar, Charging Systems, Micro Grid.

Offerings/Product Portfolio: EV-AC/DC Charging Stations, Inverters-String Inverters (1.2 to 350kW), Central Inverters (250 kW- 5 MW), Microgrid solutions, Monitoring and Control.

Major recent Achievements of the Company:

In recent times, Fimer has maintained its business growth and managed to grow in terms of revenue & sales inspite of the recent pandemic situation in 2020. In 2021, the company has managed to clock 2GW shipments thereby maintaining its position of being in the Top 3 inverter suppliers in the country.

Industry Outlook:

Solar and EVs are the future along with Storage applications. While solar will play a key role in terms of being a key energy resource in the future, and with more impetus coming to hybrid and RTC projects and also BESS systems, India will be one of the top countries expected to add 10-15GW renewable energy (RE) each year. While EV is still in a nascent stage, the whole ecosystem is expected to develop rapidly and will grow in conjunction with the solar system.