SolarBK goes green via new initiatives

The grid connection ceremony was held on July 3

The 460 kilowatt peak (kWp) project, developed by Solar ESCO JSC, a member of renewable developers SolarBK Holdings, was directly installed on the roof of Taiwan’s Tong Hong Tannery (Vietnam) Co., Ltd., using Solar ESCO’s capital.

The system will help Tong Hong Tannery Vietnam, based at My Xuan A2 Industrial Park in Tan Thanh district of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, to annually reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 578 tonnes.

Besides saving on the initial investment, Tong Hong could also save at least 5 per cent of cost per kWh and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after each product to fall in line with the standards set by the brand.

As per the agreement terms, after 15 years, Solar ESCO will hand over the solar power system, and Tong Hong will continue using it for the next 10-15 years.

As one of the strategic supply chain factories of PUMA – a large German multinational firm specialised in manufacturing footwear and sports accessories – Tong Hong is required to conform to the environmental policy that PUMA applies to its suppliers. One of PUMA’s requirements is to limit the reduction of GHG emissions in the production process, thus installing the solar power system is an effective and easily measurable solution.

Through the Vietnam Improvement Programme on resource efficiency and energy saving, promoting sustainable production in the textile and apparel industry of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in partnership with a number of global brands including PUMA, Solar ESCO was shortlisted on the list of prestigious suppliers to work directly with Tong Hong.

At this project, Solar ESCO will directly participate in the development and investment of the solar power system, using IREX’s solar panels and SolarBK’s engineering and construction competence to meet Tong Hong’s specific requirements.

With the advantage of being part of SolarBK’s complete value chain, Solar ESCO is considered a prestigious partner for many consulting and financial organisations in realising the ESCO (Energy Service Company) investment model in Vietnam.

Through this model, Solar ESCO will be providing total solutions from consulting, designing, installing, operating, and financing to energy system management at the customer company’s facility and earning based on the energy-saving efficiency brought by the system.

This could be a popular energy-saving co-operation and investment model in the world, which the project developer and investor (Solar ESCO), the beneficiary company (Tong Hong), and the community all gain benefits.

Co-operative deals like the one with SolarESCO on solar power project development help companies like Tong Hong to produce green energy from an empty rooftop area, making profits without investment, managing risks, and saving on power usage costs. More importantly, the companies are also building a green and environmentally-friendly image – one of the priority benchmarks in partner selection and brand evaluation in many places around the world.

Not only fulfilling the solar power project for Tong Hong, Solar ESCO has also been implementing many other solar power projects like the ICD Tan Cang Song Than (500.96kWp), Vincom Danang (226kWp), Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (166kWp), and several Electricity of Vietnam projects. By the end of 2019, the capacity of new project development is expected to reach 15 megawatts peak.

“For the past 30 years, co-operation between Tong Hong and the world’s major brands have provided us with a good foundation to promote environmental protection,” said Chen Chun Chi, deputy general director at Tong Hong Tannery (Vietnam).

“We thank the IFC and PUMA for supporting us in carrying out the cost-efficient solar energy project, which helped Tong Hong’s carbon emission reduction plan to make its first steady steps,” he said.