Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 32

AsiaElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
Solar power firms see revenue surge in H1
Solar power rms in Vietnam connected to the national grid have reported robust rst half results, with revenue doubling year-on- year.
Gia Lai Electricity (GEC), which owns ve solar power plants with a total capacity of 260 MWp, saw its revenue surge 2.3 times year- on-year to VND514bn ($22.15mn). Its pro t for the period rose by 77.5 percent year-on- year to VND158bn ($6.8mn).
All of GEC’s plants have exceeded production targets in the rst half, and the company expects the trend to continue for the whole year.
Construction rm Ha Do Group, which owns a 48MWp solar power plant in the central province of Binh uan, also saw
its hydropower and solar power revenues almost doubling from last year to VND308bn ($13.27mn).
Investment rm Bamboo Capital Group saw rst revenues from its 40.6MWp BCG- CME Long An 1 plant in the Mekong Delta province of Long An a er launching it on June 23.
e group is now seeing revenues of about VND500mn ($21,500) a day from this plant. When the Long An 2 solar power plant in
the same province starts operating by the
end of this year, the revenue would go up to VND1.7bn ($73,300) a day for annual revenues of VND450bn ($19.4mn) and a pro t margin of 13-14 percent.
Vietnam saw rapid construction of new renewable power plants in the rst half of this year as investors sought to beat a June 30 deadline to enjoy price incentives of $0.0935 per kWh feed-in tari (FIT) for the next 20 years.
As many as 81 new solar and wind power plants began operations in the second quarter, adding nearly 4,500MW to the national grid, equivalent to 10% of its capacity.
Cleantech Solar, Bosch sign
long-term PPA for SMART
factory in Thailand
Cleantech Solar, a leading provider of renewable energy to corporations in Asia, and Bosch Automotive Technologies ( ailand), an entity of the Germany-based Bosch Group, announced a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for a 1 MW solar PV system that will be built on-site at Bosch’s
rst SMART factory in ailand, located in
Hemaraj at the Eastern Economic Corridor. e project will have solar modules
installed across the roo op of the Bosch’s Hemaraj factory that covers an area of about 10,000 square metres. e system is expected to generate over 23,500MWh of clean energy, avoiding 13,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over its lifetime.
ailand is the home ground for the strongest automotive cluster in Southeast Asia and much of Bosch’s success lies in maintaining a social and ecological balance that aims to preserve resources for current and future generations.
“Increasing our renewable energy consumption at our plant is an important
step in achieving Bosch’s vision of
carbon neutrality and strengthening our sustainability leadership in the country and
in the automotive industry at large. With Cleantech Solar’s proven local expertise and international experience in the solar industry, we are con dent that our partnership will bear both environmental and economic bene ts,” said Martin Knoss, regional president of Bosch Powertrain Solutions.
Raju Shukla, Cleantech Solar’s founder and executive chairman said: “Making a switch to renewables is a sound business decision that can help manage uctuating electricity cost and improve a company’s competitiveness.” CLEANTECH SOLAR
AC Energy to develop
hydro-based power storage
project in Australia
AC Energy said it has signed a deal to develop a pumped hydroelectric energy storage system with a capacity of 250MW in South Australia, which it expects to start building in the next six months.
“We just signed a couple of days ago an agreement to develop pumped hydro in South Australia. In all of our projects, we also look at whether it makes sense to add batteries,” said Patrice Clausse, chief operating o cer of AC Energy International Holdings Pte. Ltd.
“Pumped hydro... complements renewables very well. at one, I hope we can get to NTP (notice to proceed) in the next six months,” he said.
e project will be the latest to break ground for AC Energy, and its rst with Australia’s UPC Renewables in which it acquired a 50% stake in May 2018.
“It’s a very short construction cycle. It’s also with UPC,” Mr. Clausse said.
e subsidiary of Ayala Corp. has said it will seek to enter the Australian renewables market through a joint venture.
”We’ve designed it in a way that we can add battery storage anytime. e base case at the moment is not yet to add batteries,” Clausse said.
Separately, AC Energy said that it entered into a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of a 51% interest in the Baroota Pumped Hydro and the Bridle Track Solar Farm projects from Rise Renewables.
It said under the terms of the agreement, the partnership with UPC Renewables intends to accelerate remaining development, fund construction and to retain long-term ownership of the projects.
e partners said it sees the Baroota project as a leading example of low-cost long-hours energy storage providing rm generation that is needed in South Australia as well as in the wider National Electricity Market.
“ e capability of the pumped hydro project will provide a valuable contribution to UPCAC Renewables development portfolio across the National Electricity Market,” AC Energy said.
Week 32 13 •August•2019
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