Sunseap completes Vietnam solar farm amid steady pipeline of Asia projects

SINGAPORE clean-energy provider Sunseap Group's unit has completed a US$150 million Vietnam solar farm project ahead of schedule, Sunseap International said on Wednesday.

It was completed and connected to the Vietnam national grid ahead of a June 30 deadline, the solar energy firm said.

The solar farm was jointly developed with InfraCo Asia, an infrastructure development and investment company majority owned by Sunseap International.

InfraCo Asia is funded by governments of the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia, and is part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG).

PIDG funds projects that improve the infrastructure of low-income developing South and South-east Asia countries.

The Vietnam project will sell electricity at a solar feed-in tariff of 9.35 US cents per kilowatt hour.

The plant will generate 168 megawatt-peak (MWp) of solar energy, enough to power roughly 192,000 homes and reduce carbon emissions by about 240,000 tonnes annually.

Located in Ninh Thuan province on the south-central coast of Vietnam, it was commissioned as part of a 20-year solar power purchase agreement inked in the second-half of 2018.

The Sunseap unit and InfraCo Asia have also contributed three billion Vietnamese dong (S$173,749) to fund the construction of concrete roads surrounding the farm's site, as part of their corporate social responsibility initiative.

The Vietnam solar farm is one of a string of Asian projects the solar energy company has undertaken recently.

In June, Sunseap took a S$43 million green loan to install solar power systems on rooftops across Singapore, and inked a joint venture to develop solar projects in Taiwan.

In November last year, it announced the development of offshore floating photovoltaic systems that will be located along the Strait of Johor, north of Woodlands Waterfront Park.

Frank Phuan, co-founder and director of the Sunseap Group, said: "Sunseap is delighted to deliver this solar plant ahead of schedule and to play our part in the greening of Vietnam's fast-growing power grid."

Said Allard Nooy, CEO of InfraCo Asia: "Developing the Ninh Thuan Solar Power Plant in partnership with Sunseap supports InfraCo Asia's aim to serve as a catalyst for future infrastructure development in the countries and sectors in which we work.

"We hope this project will serve as a benchmark for future investors, demonstrating the commercial viability, development impact, and environmental benefits that can be achieved."

Sunseap's majority shareholders are its directors, Mr Phuan and Lawrence Wu, with Thailand's Banpu Infinergy holding a 25.7 per cent stake.