The Electricity of Vietnam- the country’s single off-taker – officially announced that the Vinh Hao 6 solar power plant in the Vietnamese province Binh Thuan has reached Commercial Operation Date (COD) after completing a series of necessary tests and commissioning procedures.
ACWA Power, a leading international developer and operator and FECON, a Vietnamese enterprise in infrastructure construction have jointly invested in this USD 58 million Vinh Hao 6 PV IPP constructed on an area of 60 ha. The plant has a design capacity of 50MWp to provide 83 million KWh/year to the national grid.
Commencing construction on October 2018, the plant was energized on June 7, 2019 and receive the Commercial Operation Date (COD) certificate on June 18, 2019 becoming the first project in the Binh Thuan province to pass the conditional test and start energizing the same day. Then on June 18, well ahead of the June 30, 2019 deadline for plants to dispatch at the tariff of 9.35 cents/kWh for 20 years, the Vinh Hao 6 solar power plant reached COD before the deadline of June 30, 2019, operating at a tariff of 9.35 cents /kWhm
Paddy Padmanathan, President and CEO of ACWA Power said: “We are honored to have been chosen by the Province and trusted with the delivery of Vinh Hao 6 based on our considerable international expertise in the solar power generation sector. Reaching COD before our designated deadline is a testament of our dedication and robust partnership with FECON – opening doors for and solidifying successful collaborations down the line."
"Vinh Hao is our first renewable energy project in Vietnam and we aspire to build on this foundation a strong portfolio of renewable energy projects across the region to play a growing role in diversifying the energy mix of communities and nations transition to an economy centered on sustainable energy resources. We look forward to the commencement of construction of Nam Dinh 1 BOT project later this year which will represent our next step in partnering with the people and the Government of Vietnam to address the power shortage currently faced and achieve the country’s development goals”, Padmanathan added.
Rajit Nanda, Chief Investment Officer of ACWA Power said: “Vietnam is seen as one of our strategic market with growth opportunities that will allow us to expand our footprint in the region as the government is quite keen to attract investments in solar and wind projects to embed clean energy sources into its energy mix. A tremendous amount of untapped solar energy resource potential exists in Vietnam and so we are pleased to have officially commenced operations of Vinh Hao 6 to contribute to the government’s target of reaching 20 percent solar capacity by the year 2050.”
Vino Hao 6 is the first power plant invested and developed by ACWA Power in Vietnam to reach COD. This is also the first cooperation between ACWA Power and FECON, in the context of the policy of Vietnamese Government promoting the development of renewable energy.
In addition to Vinh Hao 6, ACWA Power and FECON are discussing the implementation of Vinh Hao 6 phase 2 and other wind projects in nearby provinces.