HSBC offers credit for rooftop solar power projects
HSBC offers credit for rooftop solar power projects
HSBC Vietnam is cooperating with GIC Investment JSC to offer loans for individual customers in HCMC and Danang to install rooftop solar systems.
Premier customers can take loans with a repayment term of 60 months and an annual interest rate of 11.99%. The rate is 12.99% for other customers, Thanh Nien Online newspaper reported.
In addition, premier customers can enjoy a 14% discount on the list price, while other customers will be entitled to a 12% discount.
Phuong Tien Minh, head of HSBC Vietnam’s Retail Banking and Wealth Management, said installing rooftop solar systems will help households cut their electricity bills. For example, households with monthly electricity bills of some VND2 million each can save some VND1 million.
According to GIC chairman Le Anh Khang, the costs for these systems depend on their capacity. With an investment of VND75.38-78.53 million for a 3.15-kilowatt-hour system, households can generate 38-410 kilowatt hours of electricity per month and can recover the capital in five to six years.
Vietnam’s demand for electricity is estimated to annually increase 8% in the 2021-2031 period. Therefore, the country needs some 60,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020, 96,500 megawatts by 2025 and 129,500 megawatts by 2030.
The Government has encouraged the development of various kinds of renewable energy.
In related news, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has added a solution on prices for electricity generated from solar power projects to a prime minister’s draft decision on policies to encourage the development of solar power in Vietnam, according to Nguoi Lao Don newspaper.
The ministry suggested classifying localities in the country into two zones: zone II with provinces holding high potential for solar power development, including the Phu Yen, Gia Lai, Daklak, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan, and zone I consisting of the remaining cities and provinces.
The prices for electricity generated from floating, ground-mounted and rooftop solar power projects in zone I are proposed at VND1,758, VND1,620 and VND1,916 per kilowatt hour, respectively.
Meanwhile, each kilowatt hour of electricity generated from rooftop and ground-mounted solar power projects in zone II will be bought at VND1,803 and VND1,525, respectively.
According to the ministry, the proposal will help save money to support localities with low potential for solar power development. However, it may discourage investors from developing projects in the northern and central provinces and the country may fail to reach its renewable power generation targets.
In addition, zone II may become the location for many solar power projects, leading to the overload of transmission lines.
As a result, the ministry proposed the Government choose the solution of four zones suggested earlier. Specifically, the prices of electricity generated from solar power projects will be VND2,102, VND1,809, VND1,620 and VND1,525 per kilowatt hour in four zones in order of their increasing potential for solar power development.
The ministry also suggested keeping the solar power price at 9.35 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour until 2021. To date, some 4,000 customers have installed rooftop solar power systems with a total capacity of 45 megawatt peak.
