Giant solar power plant to start operation this year

Gia Lai Electricity JSC, a subsidiary of TTC Group, has just signed an EPC contract with the consortium of Asian electronics giant Sharp Corporation (Japan), Sharp Solution Asia (SSSA) (Thailand), and NSN Construction and Engineering JSC to construct the Phong Dien solar power plant.

Sharp is a multinational electronics corporation based in Sakai, Japan, and has been an integral part of Taiwan-based Foxconn Group since 2016.

The plant is located on 45 hectares in Phong Dien district of Thua Thien-Hue province in the Central Coast. The plant is expected to start operations in September 2018, generating enough power for 32,628 average households in Vietnam, or around 0.1 per cent of the country’s population.

The supply will help reduce CO₂ emissions by around 20,500 tonnes a year compared to coal-fired power plants, which play a key role in Vietnam’s energy chain.

The total project investment is nearly VND700 billion ($31 million), 40 per cent of which comes from investors and the remaining 60 per cent from banks.

This is the first solar power plant that TTC Group will start in the country, while planning to deploy other projects in Tay Ninh (324MW), Binh Thuan (300MW), Ninh Thuan (300MW), and Gia Lai (49MW).

Thai Van Chuyen, general director of TTC Group, said that solar and wind power are two sectors to keep an eye on in the coming time as total investment capital will reach around US$1billion by 2020.

Solar power currently accounts for 0.01 per cent of the country’s total power output, but the government plans to increase the ratio to 3.3 per cent by 2030 and 20 per cent by 2050.

Vietnam is aiming to produce 10.7 per cent of its electricity through renewable energy by 2030, mainly through solar and wind energy.