Sunseap International enters solar co-operation with InfraCo Asia
Sunseap International enters solar co-operation with InfraCo Asia
On February 14, Sunseap International, the international arm of Singapore’s leading clean energy provider Sunseap Group, signed an agreement with InfraCo Asia Development Pte., Ltd. (InfraCo Asia) to jointly develop a 168MW utility-scale solar power project in the south central coastal province of Ninh Thuan.
Accordingly, InfraCo Asia will take a minority stake alongside Sunseap’s existing partner, CMX RE Canada, while Sunseap International will continue to hold a majority stake in the project.
InfraCo Asia will bring its leadership expertise and provide funding for the development phase of the project. The project is expected to reach commercial operation by June 2019. During the construction phase, the solar power project will be able to create jobs for more than 200 local workers. Approximately 30 long-term jobs will be sustained when the project is in operation.
Lawrence Wu, co-founder and director of Sunseap, said, “We are delighted to have received the support of InfraCo Asia for our first project in Vietnam. We see huge potential for solar energy development in Vietnam and are excited to bring affordable and reliable clean energy to the country.”
“Sunseap International remains focused on developing innovative solar energy solutions that benefit communities in the region while saving the environment. We hope that our solar power project will help to promote green energy investment in Vietnam and in the Indochina region,” Wu added.
“As the opportunity for renewables in Vietnam continues to grow, we are excited to partner with Sunseap on a project that will serve as a catalyst for further private sector investment. It will support Vietnam—which is currently reliant on coal—in creating a cleaner energy mix for the future,” said Allard Nooy, CEO of InfraCo Asia.
The initial investor of the project was CMX Renewable Energy Vietnam Co., Ltd., a joint venture of Sunseap International and CMX RE Canada. The project covers an area of 200 hectares with a total investment capital of VND4.39 trillion ($193.4 million).
In October 2017, the Ninh Thuan People’s Committee approved the investment planning of the investor.
Being one of the first large-scale solar projects to go online in Vietnam, the Ninh Thuan solar project will tap into Vietnam’s significant solar potential, generate employment opportunities, and contribute to a cleaner energy mix for the country.
Electricity demand in Vietnam is growing by 12 per cent annually. According to the Vietnamese government’s targets, solar power is expected to become the main new renewable energy source in the future, with installed capacity to be increased from around 6-7MW at end of 2017 to 850MW by 2020, accounting for 1.6 per cent of the country’s power generation, and 12,000MW by 2030 or 3.3 per cent of the country’s power generation.
In April 2017, Vietnam fixed the price of solar power at 9.35 US cents/kilowatt hour. The government set a June 2019 deadline for solar power plants to be built and connected to the grid to receive this guaranteed solar feed-in tariff price.
Sunseap is one of the largest and most established players in the solar energy industry in the region. It has a pipeline of projects in Cambodia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Australia.
InfraCo Asia is an infrastructure development and investment company which aims to stimulate greater private sector investment in infrastructure in the low-income developing countries of South and Southeast Asia.
It funds pre-financial close, early stage, and high-risk infrastructure development activities by taking equity stakes in socially responsible and commercially viable infrastructure projects that contribute to economic growth, social development, and poverty reduction.
