Vietnam’s SkyX Solar Forms a Joint Venture to Install 50 MW of Rooftop Systems
Vietnam’s SkyX Solar announced that it signed a joint venture agreement with SAIGONTEL to build and operate rooftop solar projects for industrial facilities within the industrial parks affiliated with the latter in Vietnam. In a press statement issued by SkyX, it said that the joint venture would initially develop and operate 50 MW of rooftop projects at ten industrial parks initially. SkyX added that six of these individual parks are in the central and south regions of the country, which have the highest irradiation levels. The joint venture will offer end-to-end renewable energy solutions to creditworthy client partners, which entails zero CAPEX and OPEX from them but, at the same time, will bring cost savings and carbon footprint reduction benefits.
TOTAL To Boost Renewable Energy In Thailand With 25MW Solar Projects
TOTAL S.A. TOT announced that its unit Total Solar Distributed Generation has entered into an agreement to provide 25 megawatt-peak of solar rooftops for 24 facilities of one of the largest food companies in Thailand, Betagro. These solar projects will utilize more than 62,000 solar panels and produce 38 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity per year. Clean energy generated from rooftop solar projects will assist Betagro to lower its carbon footprint by 26,000 tons of carbon dioxide during the lifetime of the projects. In addition to developing hydrocarbon projects across the globe, TOTAL is also working to develop clean energy development projects in different regions. The company is gradually building a portfolio of low-carbon businesses that could account for 15-20% of sales by 2040.
India’s solar module imports from Thailand double in 9 months
China exported solar cells and modules worth $1,179.89 million to India in the first nine months [April to December] of the current financial year (2019-20), accounting for 77% of India’s total value of solar cell and module imports ($1,525.8 million) during the period—as per the data shared by renewable energy minister R K Singh in the Parliament recently. In FY17, FY18, and FY19 India’s solar cell and module imports from China stood at $2,817.34 million, $3,418.96 million, and $1,694.04 million, respectively—against the country’s total solar cell and module imports worth $3,196.5 million, $3,837.6 million, $2,159.7 million, respectively. Countries like Thailand and Vietnam have emerged as the biggest gainers with their solar cell and module exports to India during April-December period of 2019-20 sharply increasing to $110.39 million and $127.21 million from $55.05 million and $91.97 million in 2018-19, respectively.
Cambodia Chooses Solar Energy Over Damming the Mekong River
Cambodia will not develop new hydropower dams on the Mekong River for the next 10 years, a senior energy official said on Wednesday. The announcement comes as Cambodia reviews its policy to seek solar energy and also energy from coal and natural gas. The decision means that neighbouring Laos, which has opened two new dams on the Mekong in the past six months, is the only country in the Lower Mekong Basin planning hydropower. The Mekong river sustains some 60 million people. Victor Jona, director general of energy at Cambodia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, told Reuters the government was following a study done by a Japanese consultant that recommended Cambodia seek energy elsewhere.
Indonesia’s first PPA for large scale solar
According to The Jakarta Post newspaper, the plant will exclusively power PT Golden Blossom under a 20-year power supply deal. Construction of the facility is expected to begin in July with completion slated for March 2022. The newspaper did not specify what the word “hybrid” referred to in the project but the planned off-grid location makes it likely to be a solar-plus-storage facility. According to recent data published by Indonesian thinktank the Institute for Essential Services Reform – based on solar resource mapping by the Re Explore geospatial software developed by the U.S.’ National Renewable Energy Laboratory – the nation has the technical potential to deploy up to 655 GWp of rooftop PV capacity. Indonesia had around 60 MW of solar generation capacity at the end of 2018, according to International Renewable Energy Agency figures.
