Ayala Corp. said power unit AC Energy Holdings Inc. teamed up with BIM Group of Vietnam to jointly develop over 300 megawatts of solar power projects in Ninh Thua province, Vietnam.
“AC Energy is very keen to participate in the fast-growing Vietnam power sector, with pioneering investments in renewable energy. We are delighted to partner with BIM Group, which has a significant presence in Ninh Thuan province, which in turn has among the best solar irradiance in the country,” AC Energy chief executive John Eric Francia said.
An initial 30-MW solar project broke on Jan. 23 with Conergy Asia & ME as the construction partner. Investment for the first phase of the project is expected to reach 800 billion Vietnamese Dong and to be completed within the year. The project can be expanded up to 300 MW.
Francia said Vietnam offers good investment opportunities because of its feed-in tariff for solar and wind and strong demand for power.
BIM Group is a diversified corporation in Vietnam with investments in tourism, real estate, agriculture, commercial services and renewable energy.
AC Energy has investments in renewable energy and conventional power plants. It expects to exceed 2,000 MW of attributable capacity by 2020.
Francia said company was also looking at possible thermal or coal investments in Indonesia.
“We’re looking to expand internationally, that is true for both RE and thermal…In Indonesia, we are looking to participate not only in RE, where we are well entrenched but also thermal opportunities,” Francia said.
AC Energy began to expand regionally with two investments in Indonesia—Sidrap wind and Salak-Darajat geothermal plants.
Ayala-led PT UPC Sidrap Bayu Energi is nearing completion of a 75-MW wind project, Indonesia’s first utility-scale wind farm costing $150 million. Commercial operations are expected to start in the first quarter.
AC Energy earlier signed investment agreements with UPC Renewables Indonesia Ltd. for the development of a 75-MW wind farm project in Sidrap, South Sulawesi.
The project is being developed through PT UPC Sidrap Bayu Energi, a special purpose company based in Indonesia.
The Sidrap Project is the first greenfield offshore investment of AC Energy Holdings Inc., through affiliate AC Energy International Holdings Pte Ltd., a Singapore private limited company.
The Ayala energy arm also has a 20-percent stake in Star Energy B.V., which acquired Chevron’s geothermal operations in Indonesia.