Electricity of Vietnam announced that the Vinh Hao 6 solar power plant in Binh Thuan province has reached Commercial Operation Date (COD) after completing a series of necessary tests and commissioning procedures.
Vinh Hao 6 power plant is a $58 million joint investment between Saudi’s ACWA Power and Vietnam’s FECON, an enterprise in infrastructure construction.
Vinh Hao 6 was constructed on an area of 60 hectares with a capacity of 50MWp to provide 83 million KWh/year to the national grid.
Construction on the power plant began in October 2018 and it was energized on June 7, 2019 and received the COD certificate on June 18 this year, becoming the first project in Binh Thuan to pass the conditional test and start energizing the same day.
Vinh Hao 6 solar reached COD before the deadline of June 30, operating at a tariff of 9.35 cents/kWhm.
Speaking on the occasion, President and CEO of ACWA Power Paddy Padmanathan announced tat Vinh Hao is the first renewable energy project in Vietnam, and the company aspires to build on this foundation a strong portfolio of renewable energy projects across the region.
“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.”
ACWA Power Chief Investment Officer Rajit Nanda indicated that Vietnam is seen as one of ACWA’s strategic market with growth opportunities that will allow the company to expand its footprint in the region.
He asserted 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, and it is the first cooperation between ACWA Power and FECON, in the context of the policy of Vietnamese Government promoting the development of renewable energy.
ACWA Power and FECON are also discussing the implementation of Vinh Hao 6 phase 2 and other wind projects in nearby provinces.
