The Context

Vietnam has significant potential and plans for renewable energy, specifically in the solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass and hydropower sectors. The country’s Revised Power Development Master Plan emphasises the importance of all renewable energy sources. In the case of solar, the master plan targets to achieve 850 MW in 2020, about 4,000 MW in 2025 and about 12,000 MW by 2030 – more than 14x growth in capacity in a 10-year span.

To help achieve these ambitious targets, the Vietnam government issued a decree on mechanisms for encouraging the development of solar power in the country. The decree covers both commercial as well as rooftop projects, and includes guidelines on PPA for solar projects, as well as the approval process, power development plans, technical requirements, and tariff structures.

Even with government support for solar growth, the path to increasing the country’s solar generation capacity is not without challenges. Lack of project development capacity, limited access to mainstream financing, and perceived sovereign risks are major barriers to development of solar projects in Vietnam.

Through projects like Ninh Thuan Solar Power, InfraCo Asia aims to support the development of Vietnam’s solar sector by providing the development expertise and early stage development equity needed to catalyse growth. Applying IFC Performance Standards throughout the development phase is one of the ways InfraCo Asia demonstrates a globally recognised approach to project development.

The Project

The Ninh Thuan Solar Power is a 168-megawatt peak (MWp) utility-scale solar farm located in the My Son commune, Ninh Son district, Ninh Thuan province of Vietnam.

The Ninh Thuan Solar Power plant was developed by a joint venture company established by Sunseap International (Sunseap) and InfraCo Asia. Sunseap is a Singapore-based clean energy solutions company that develops, builds, finances, owns and operates solar projects in the South East Asian and Pacific regions.

Power generated from the project is sold to EVN, the national utility company through a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that provides a Feed-in-tariff (FIT) in Vietnamese Dong equivalent to US 9.35 cents / kWh. The project was initially scheduled to complete construction by Q4 2019, but instead achieved an early COD on 15 June 2019.

InfraCo Asia fully divested its direct interest in the Project on 31 March 2020, and its residual interest in October 2021.

Our Impact

Impact on people: The project will contribute to increase provision of unreliable and sustainable electricity supply to customers

Impact on planet: The project will contribute to increase the solar installed capacity in the country and displace GHG emissions