Context

Located in Vietnam’s far north, on the border with China’s Yunnan Province, InfraCo Asia’s Coc San Hydro Power Plant has added 29.7 MW of new, clean capacity to the region’s power grid. Generation of peaking power by this run of-river project supports grid stability in the northern part of Vietnam. The project provides more than 120 GWh of renewable energy per annum and reduces carbon emissions by about 76,000 tonnes per annum.

The Project

The Coc San Hydro Power Plant is located in the Dum River Valley, tributary of Hong (Red) River, in Lao Cai province of Vietnam. InfraCo Asia’s participation enabled the project to be developed despite Vietnam’s economic challenges at the time. The Coc San Hydropower Project has been operating reliably since 29 April 2016 and sells power to Northern Power Corporation (a subsidiary of Vietnam Electricity (EVN)) under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement under the Avoided Cost Tariff regime.  Long-term financing is in place with a local bank, which benefits from the support of the World Bank’s Renewable Energy Development Project.

InfraCo Asia divested its shareholding in the Coc San Hydro Power project to TEPCO in November 2018, successfully completing a full cycle of developing, investing in, bringing to commercial operation and fully exiting the projects.

Our Impact

Impact on Planet: the project will contribute to increase the production of sustainable electricity from hydro sources in the country and displace 76,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

Impact on people: the project contributed to increase availability of sustainable electricity to households and small businesses. Moreover, through a Community Development programme, the project contributed to the rehabilitation of 3 schools and the construction of an access road, enabling easier movement of farm produce. Scholarships were also provided to enable children to attend school and purchase books and uniforms.