Powerway has bright solar future

Managing director of Lauren Solar Energy Technology Company, a subsidiary of Powerway Group, Zhu Jun Yong told VIR, “We still see potential in investing in Vietnam and believe that our exports throughout ASEAN and the EU market will prosper for a long time to come. We are preparing to start construction on our facility.”

Powerway Group received a licence two months ago to build its $50 million solar panel project facility in the northern province of Bac Giang with the designed capacity of 150 megawatts per year. It is expected to go online within the next 16 months.

Yong said the facility would use German technology and 90 per cent of production output would be for export.

This is the fourth solar panel project licensed in Vietnam after the US’ First Solar announced their $1.2 billion plant in Ho Chi Minh City. Others include the $390 million IC Energy Company in the central province of Quang Nam and $310 million joint venture between Vietnam’s WorldTech Transfer Investment Company and UAE firm Global Sphere.

Recently, Global Sphere announced it would be withdrawing from its project nearly a year after breaking ground due to the Vietnamese partner’s performance problems. The First Solar and IC Energy projects announced a temporary stop last year because the world demand was too low to make them feasible.

Coal and gas power plants are still Vietnam’s major sources of power. Recently the country has shown a great deal of interest in kick-starting the use of renewable energy source such as solar and wind power due to environmental problems that have resulted from hydro and thermal power plants, as well as rising fuel costs.

Renewable energy projects are also expected to woo hi-tech foreign investors into the country’s energy market.