As the global effort to decarbonise intensifies, countries and corporates across the Asia Pacific region are heeding the call and setting increasingly ambitious renewable energy targets.

To achieve this objective, Singapore-based solar energy solutions provider Sunseap Group has signed 20-year power purchase agreements with state-owned utility Vietnam Electricity to supply clean energy to the country’s national grid.

The firm will generate the solar energy from seven newly commissioned solar plants in Vietnam. With a total capacity of 23.2MWp, these plants were installed within three months despite movement restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said in a statement.

Sunseap Group is the leading solar energy system developer, owner and operator in Singapore, with almost 300 Mega Watt-peak (MWp) of solar energy projects contracted, of which 168 MWp have been completed on more than 1,500 buildings in Singapore. This includes public housing estates, as well as commercial and industrial buildings. Sunseap operates through five key units: Sunseap Leasing, Sunseap International, Sunseap Energy, Sunseap Engineering and Sunseap Solutions.

The plants will come equipped with 60,000 photo-voltaic (PV) panels and 370 DC/AC inverters, and are expected to yield around 40,424,479 kilowatt-hours of clean energy per year, which is equivalent of delivering clean energy to 13,000 households and reducing carbon dioxide by more than 20,500 tons annually.

These PV systems were built atop factory and warehouse buildings across Southern Vietnam in various provinces including Ba Ria Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Binh Phoc and Binh Duong. The PPAs were signed under Vietnam Electricity’s Feed-In-Tariff 2 programme to promote investments in renewable energy sources by guaranteeing producers an above-market rate for selling into the grid.

Frank Phuan, co-founder and CEO of Sunseap Group, said: “It was no mean feat installing and commissioning seven solar plants (in Vietnam) within three months and in the face of the pandemic. We hope this demonstrates to our partners and potential partners Sunseap’s strong end-to-end project development and management competencies and our ability to complete a project within a tight deadline. The Vietnamese government has been incredibly supportive of clean energy and we look forward to more opportunities to power the country’s economic growth in a sustainable manner.”

Jeff Lim, Vice-President of Business Development and International activities at Sunseap Group, added: “We are pleased that the team’s strong work ethics, competence and adaptability have enabled us to install the solar plants expeditiously despite the Covid-19 restrictions. We are grateful that the tremendous support of the Vietnamese government has also contributed to the smooth and successful execution of the project. In the coming year we look forward to forging closer relationships with our local partners to expand our portfolio of projects in Vietnam.”

Vietnam’s adoption of renewable energy is drawing global investors’ attention. Private equity giants such as Macquarie have committed to the region. In key markets around the world Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) is building renewable energy development pipelines by acquiring and investing in development companies, forming joint ventures or developing projects directly.

This latest project adds to the 168MWp solar farm Sunseap has developed in Ninh Thuan province in 2019. Phuan added that Vietnam has become an attractive market in the region due to favourable climate conditions for harnessing solar energy, stable and supportive government policies for solar implementation and a strong network of well-established developers, off-takers, contractors and financiers.

Sunseap is one of the largest players in the solar energy industry in the region, with a pipeline of projects in Singapore, Australia, China, Taiwan and Cambodia.