TTC Group opens solar power plant in Thua Thien Hue
The TTC Group and its member company, the Gia Lai Electricity JSC (GEC), inaugurated the TTC Phong Dien Solar Power Plant in Phong Dien district in central Thua Thien Hue province on October 5; the first 35 MW solar power plant to be put into operation in Vietnam.
Invested by GEC, TTC Phong Dien is located about 50 km to the north of the provincial capital of Hue. The 45-ha plant has a capacity of 35 MW and total investment capital of around $23.4 million. Construction began last January with a total workforce of more than 300 domestic and foreign workers and engineers.
Some 145,560 solar panels were installed with advanced technology and equipment that will absorb the sun’s radiation and convert it into electricity for the national power transmission system.
After nine months of construction and equipment installation, TTC Phong Dien will generate about 60 million kWh of electricity per year. This is roughly equal to the annual electricity consumption of 32,628 households in Vietnam and it’s estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 20,503 tons per year.
The plant ensures synchronous development between power sources and electricity grids while maintaining the safe and economic operation of the power system and, especially, investment efficiency. Besides adding to the curbing of global warming and protecting the environment, the plant also creates jobs and bolsters local socioeconomic development.
“The implementation and operation of the TTC Phong Dien Solar Power Plant are very important to the TTC Group and GEC,” Mr. Dang Van Thanh, Chairman of the TTC Group, told the opening ceremony. “Although we are relatively new to this sector, the positive policies of the government and the efforts of the business prove that Vietnam has the fundamentals to develop clean energy sources that are friendly on the environment. It also contributes to national energy supply, ensuring national energy security, and meets electricity demand.”
“It’s very encouraging to see the TTC Phong Dien Solar Power Plant go online, paving the way for the development of Vietnam’s solar energy sector by leveraging the private sector,” said Mr. Kyle Kelhofer, IFC Country Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. “As a development institution and a GEC shareholder, IFC believes GEC is moving on the right track to tap into the rich potential of Vietnam’s green energy sector, improving national energy supply capacity through expanding the supply of reliable and clean energy.”
The plant officially began generating power on September 25. By 2019, capacity will expand by an additional 29.5 MW on 38.5 ha, partially meeting future demand for electricity.
It’s also expected that GEC will officially put the TTC Krong Pa Solar Power Plant into operation in the central highlands province of Gia Lai in the fourth quarter of this year. The $32.8-million project has a capacity of 49 MW and will generate and distribute solar power.
In the solar energy sector, TTC Energy is implementing six plants that have had additional planning submitted and are expected to begin operations before June 2019. Under its strategic plan to 2020, the TTC Group will increase total capacity to about 1,000 MW in cities and provinces with great potential for solar power development.
Source: vneconomictimes.com
