Vietnam’s first ultra-clear float glass facility to start construction
Vietnam’s first ultra-clear float glass facility to start construction
Vietnam’s first ultra-clear float glass production facility, mainly used in solar panels, started construction in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau yesterday, to meet the booming demand of the solar industry.
The project is developed by Phu My Ultra Clear Float Glass Co., Ltd, a consortium of leading domestic building materials firm Viglacera, Vietnam Urban and Industrial Zone Development Investment Corporation, and China’s Kaisheng Group.
It is estimated that the $110-million phase I will be carried out by 2018. It is expected to churn out 6,000 tonnes of products per day and rising to 9,000 tonnes of products after phase II is finished.
According to Viglacera, which owns 35 per cent of the consortium, 90 per cent of the facility’s ultra-white output will be exported to overseas, and 10 per cent will be sold to a glass processor in the northern province of Bac Giang, the home of the largest solar energy assembly project in Vietnam.
The factory in Ba Ria-Vung Tau is one of the two ultra-clear float glass plants scheduled for construction in Vietnam. The other plant will be in northern province of Bac Ninh. The prime minister gave in-principle approval to the construction of these plants in late-2016.
Viglacera general director Nguyen Anh Tuan said at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting that ultra-clear float glass, produced to be used in solar panels, is a new field that requires high-technology, prompting Viglacera to seek out tech-savvy partners.
Viglacera is a pioneer in the production of energy-saving glass (solar-control and low-e glass) and ultra-white glass in Vietnam. The low-e glass is commonly used around the globe, particularly in developed countries, thanks to its superior efficiency in terms of thermal preservation, electricity saving (45 per cent) and UV blocking (99 per cent).
