2018 MARKET

UPDATE

2 - 3 JULY 2018 | GRAND COPTHORNE WATERFRONT, SINGAPORE

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17
6
CONTENTS
ROUND-UP: Indian tariffs at 2.72 rupees, Rays Power open access projects, 3
AfDB Nigeria support

Mongolia’s largest solar project gets EBRD backing 4

India’s ReNew Power files for IPO 4

Vena Energy commissions 41MW solar project in Japan 5

Construction starts on Nepal’s first large-scale solar project 6

UK development financier launches solar and wind firm for South Asia 7

Sunseap JV gets green light for 168MW solar project in Vietnam 8

Excel spreadsheet vs reality: Why hardening interest rates expose Indian solar 9

Cambodian C&I solar opportunities still strong despite low voltage ban 12

Thailand’s Gulf Energy plans 48MW Vietnam solar project with TTC 14

Hyundai group awards itself 65MW / 130MWh South Korea solar-plus-storage contracts 15

Filipino energy giant AboitizPower enters rooftop solar space 16

Pakistan’s Sindh details 400MW solar parks and 250,000 solar homes plan 17

TNB signs PPAs for 180MW of solar projects in Malaysia 18

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May 11, 2018

ROUND-UP: Indian tariffs at 2.72 rupees,

Rays Power open access projects, AfDB
Nigeria support
NTPC’s 750MW auction draws winning
price of 2.72 rupees
10 May: Winning prices in India’s latest
large-scale solar auction for 750MW
capacity held by NTPC in Andhra Pradesh
hit INR2.72-2.73/kWh (~US$0.04).

Sprng Energy, Ayana Renewable Power,

and SB Energy each won 250MW of ca-
pacity in the Ananthapuramu solar park.

Sprng, which is backed by UK develop-

Credit: Rays Power Infra

ment finance institution CDC Group, put
in the lowest bid of INR2.72/kWh, while
SB Energy, a Softbank JV, and Ayana went
for 2.73 rupees.

Other bidders that lost out included:

Acme, Tata Power, Fortum, Shapoorji
Pallonji, ReNew Power, Hero, Mahindra
Susten and Azure Power.
The Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited
(GUVNL) recently scrapped a tender
after its 500MW auction saw tariffs hover
around the 3 rupee mark since it was hop-
ing to attract far lower bids.
Rays Power Infra completes 130MW of
open access solar plants in Karnataka
10 May: Indian EPC firm Rays Power Infra
has commisisoned three utility-scale PV
projects in Karnataka, under the state’s
open access scheme.
The projects in Jhamkhandi (40MW), Bija-
pur (45MW), and Kustagi (45MW) are set
to be a cost-effective source of energy for
the businesses and MNCs in the region.
Ketan Mehta, CEO, Rays Power In-
fra, said: “Built with the best available
technology in less than a 100 days, these
projects reflect upon our company’s
capacity to commission state-of-the-art
solar power plants at three separate
locations simultaneously. This sets a new
benchmark for quality and efficiency, and
showcases the depth of our engineer-
ing skill and capacity. We are extremely
grateful to the support we have received
from all stakeholders, particularly the
state government with its open access
policy, and our private partners who have
provided extensive support.”
AfDB approves US$1.5 million for 1GW
solar power procurement program
9 May: The Board of Directors of the
African Development Bank (AfDB) has
approved a US$1.5-million grant from the
Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA)
to support the Nigerian Government’s
implementation of Phase 1 of the Jigawa
1-GW Independent Power Producer (IPP)
Solar Procurement Program.
The approved SEFA grant will support
the completion of outstanding technical
and feasibility studies and the design of a
masterplan for the entire program site.
Subject to the outcome of the techni-
cal and feasibility studies, the Bank
will provide additional support to the
government in the form of funding of a
transaction advisor to design and launch
the competitive IPP procurement. The
government has committed to de-risking
the program through the provision of land
and common facilities including transmis-
sion facilities.

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May 09, 2018

Mongolia’s largest solar project gets EBRD

backing
The European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) together with
Triodos Investment Management and
FMO are providing a US$31.6 million
syndicated loan to Desert Solar Power
One (DSPO) to build the largest solar
plant in Mongolia, standing at 30MW.

EBRD was the original seed investor in

the first ever renewable energy project
in the country, the Salkhit wind farm, and

Credit: EBRD
has financed a total of three wind farms.
This will be its first utility-scale PV project
to get financing in Mongolia, claimed the
bank. consist of an EBRD A loan of US$10.5 mil- Development Bank, which will provide
lion, a B loan from impact investor Triodos US$10.5 million each.
The syndicated financing package will Investment Management and FMO Dutch

May 09, 2018

India’s ReNew Power files for IPO

Indian solar and wind developer
ReNew Power Ltd has filed for an initial
public offering (IPO), according to
Reuters.

Global Environment Fund, Green Rock

and an arm of Goldman Sachs are selling
around 94.4 million shares in the IPO,
which a source told Reuters could raise
more than US$1 billion.

ReNew, which has nearly 4GW of opera-

tional solar and wind capacity and nearly
1.7GW under development, is backed by
Goldman Sachs, Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board (CPPIB), Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority, and JERA Co. Inc,
which is a consortium of two major Japa-
Credit: ReNew Power

nese utilities.

Last month, ReNew Power bought Ostro

Energy Private Ltd for an undisclosed sum
in what was one of India’s largest ever
renewable energy deals.

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May 08, 2018

Vena Energy commissions 41MW solar

project in Japan
Clean energy developer Vena Energy,
formerly Equis Energy, has commis-
sioned a 41MW solar project in Yaita
City, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.

The Yaita project will generate approxi-

mately 47,150MWh per year, providing
electricity to the equivalent of 8,938
households.

In Japan, Vena Energy owns 66 projects

comprising 2.34GW in operation, under
construction and in development.

Nitin Apte, CEO of Vena Energy said:

“We are Asia-Pacific’s largest renewable
energy IPP because we have made a
strong commitment to building expert lo-

Credit: Vena/Equis
cal management teams that are commit-
ted to working closely with local commu-
nities. We are proud of our track record
in support of Japan’s development of a
sustainable, clean energy supply that that
provides employment opportunities and Following its acquisition in January 2018 Equis Energy changed its name to Vena
contributes to economic growth.” by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Energy earlier this month.

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May 01, 2018

Construction starts on Nepal’s first large-

scale solar project
Construction has started on a 25MW
solar PV project in Nepal, the largest
ever in the country.

Minister for Energy, Water Resources

and Irrigation Barsha Man Pun laid the
foundation stone last week at Devighat in
Nuwakot.

Pankaj Kumar, national capacity building

expert, SNV Netherlands Development
Organisation, who was previously senior

Credit: US department of Agriculture

program manager at Nepal’s Alternative
Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), told PV
Tech that this is the first large-scale solar
project in Nepal.

Kumar hopes that the collaboration be-

tween Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA),
AEPC and the private sector will help to
drive further sustainability and replication
of such large-scale projects throughout
the country.
He added: “NEA initiation is very positive,
but the PPA policy is still in doubt.”
He also noted a lack of technical man-
power with experience in Nepal for build-
ing large-scale projects.
Nepal’s largest wind-solar hybrid power
system was switched on in the Harihar-
purgadi village of Sindhuli district last
December.

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Jan 03, 2018

UK development financier launches solar

and wind firm for South Asia
CDC, the UK government’s develop-
ment finance institution, has launched a
new independent solar and wind gen-
eration company to focus on India and
neighbouring South Asian nations.

Ayana Renewable Power, entirely funded

by CDC, will develop “hundreds of
megawatts” of generational capacity with
a focus on what it named “underserved”
Indian states as well as the neighbouring
countries of Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar
and Sri Lanka.

CDC has appointed Shivanand Nimbargi

as managing director and CEO of Ayana.
Nimbargi has previously held the posi-

Credit: CDC
tion of MD and CEO for Indian renew-
ables firm Green Infra from 2011 to 2016,
where he grew operational capacity from
Ayana Renewable Power, entirely funded by CDC, will develop “hundreds of megawatts” of generational
150MW to around 700MW.
capacity.

Dr. P.J. Nayak was also appointed as
chairman of Ayana. Nayak was former
chairman and CEO of Axis Bank and has
served as joint secretary for the Depart-
ment of Economic Affairs in the Ministry
of Finance, among other roles.
Nayak said: “Ayana’s strategic vision is
to create significant renewable power
generating capacity across South Asia,
complementing it with a development
agenda which reaches out to communi-
ties near locations where such capacity
has been created.”
Nayak will lead a Board including the
non-executive directors Jayesh Desai, an
experienced financial services and invest-
ment professional who was previously
Head of Investments at Piramal Enterpris-
es, and Rahul Sankhe, founder of Agami
Ventures and former managing director
(India) for SunEdison.
Back in October CDC provided a US$97
million loan as aprt of an IFC-led finanac-
ing package to fund the construction of
13 solar power plants with a combined
capacity of 752MW in the larger 1.2GW
Benban Solar Park in Egypt.
The UK’s largest solar firm has also made
its mark in India last October. Lightsource
Renewable Energy and UK Climate Invest-
ments (UKCI) entered into a partnership
for the development, acquisition and
ownership of utility-scale solar assets in
India.

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Apr 27, 2018

Sunseap JV gets green light for 168MW

solar project in Vietnam
A joint venture between Sunseap, In-
fraCo Asia and CMX Renewable Energy
Canada has received the green light for
a 168MW solar PV project in the Ninh
Thuan province of Vietnam, which will
be the largest in the country.

The US$150 million solar farm has re-

ceived a Decision on Land Handover and
an Investment Registration Certificate,
which involved approval from the prime
minister’s office – necessary for all proj-
ects above 50MW capacity.

The project is expected to break ground

in mid-2018 before going into commercial
operation by June 2019. Once com-
pleted, it will generate enough electricity
to power the equivalent of up to 200,000
households in Vietnam and create perma-

Credit: Sunseap
nent jobs for over 200 workers.

The JV will be allowed to sell solar power

generated by its solar farm to Vietnam’s
national grid at the mandated solar feed-
in tariff of US$0.0935/kWh for the next 20
years provided they connect the project
to the grid by June 2019.
Frank Phuan, co-founder and chief execu-
tive of Sunseap, said: “This is the largest
project to-date for Sunseap and we are
honoured to be able to participate in the
greening of Vietnam. There is so much
potential to bring affordable and reliable
clean energy to the country and we are
excited to work with a government that is
committed to sustainable development
as the way forward.
“The Vietnam solar farm project is in line
with our vision to conserve the environ-
ment, and at the same time contribute to
communities across Asia. We hope that
our project can serve as a catalyst to pro-
mote greater investments in renewables
not just in Vietnam but also throughout
the Indo-China region.”
Luu Xuan Vinh, chairman of Ninh Thuan
Provincial People’s Committee, said: “The
168 MWp solar farm project invested by
Sunseap CMX RE Solar Holdings Pte. Ltd.
is one of the largest solar energy projects
in Ninh Thuan Province. We are pleased
to announce that the People’s Committee
of Ninh Thuan Province has issued the
Investment Registration Certification and
the Decision on Land Handover (Phase
1), handing over 130 hectares of land to
the project developer. The remaining 56
hectares is expected to be handed over
in May 2018.
“This project is an example of the collab-
oration between Vietnam and Singapore
to attract investments in the renewable
energy sector and demonstrates Vietnam
government’s support for Singapore
businesses to invest in Vietnam and Ninh
Thuan. We are confident that this project
will act as a catalyst for more foreign in-
vestments into Vietnam and look forward
especially to greater collaboration with
Singapore enterprises.”
The Vietnamese government is aiming
for 12GW of solar by 2030. Vietnam has
also seen multiple large-scale project an-
nouncements of late.
Sunseap International is a unit of Sin-
gapore-based clean energy provider
Sunseap Group. CMX Renewable Energy
Canada Inc. is a solar developer based in
Canada. InfraCo Asia is an infrastructure
development and investment company
of the Private Infrastructure Development
Group.

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Apr 19, 2018

Excel spreadsheet vs reality: Why hardening

interest rates expose Indian solar
While the big four of customs duty,
Goods and Services Tax (GST), anti-
dumping and safeguard duties have
received heavy media coverage, a fifth
element that has a major impact on the
Indian solar market is interest rates,
particularly as the country has some
of the highest costs of capital in the
world. This article draws on industry
opinion about the future of interest
rates and its effect on Indian PV.

After seemingly good news for India’s

downstream solar market with the
‘Change-in-Law’ provision clarification
– still with some short-term uncertainty –

Credit: Hero Future Energies

and customs duty being removed from
most PV module imports, this week took
a turn for the worse. The Madras High
Court has reportedly thrown out a writ
petition filed by Shapoorji Pallonji against
the recommendation of a 70% Safeguard
Duty on PV imports, paving the way for a India has seen low bids and a thriving M&A market, but hardening interest rates will have an impact on both.

final decision on the duty imposition.

Meanwhile, a Gujarat distribution
company (Discom) has also reportedly
cancelled its recent 500MW solar auc-
tion after discovering far higher prices
than it had hoped for – even though they
hovered around the once reputable 3
rupee per unit mark (US$0.046). As Mudit
Jain, senior manager, consulting at Bridge
to India has noted, if a safeguard duty is
imposed, just getting INR 3/kWh will also
become difficult.
However, behind the scenes, interest
rates are also having an impact, to the
point where some have even asked for
an Indian Green Investment Bank to be
formed.
US impact
Sunil Jain, chief executive and executive
director of Indian developer Hero Future
Energies, says that while module prices
have still not softened, interest rates
have also started “hardening” and even
“going north”. Increased interest rates in
the US have a direct bearing in the world
market and Jain expects a 25 basis point
upward revision of interest rates in India.
“State Bank of India has already done
that,” Jain adds. “So all put together in
a package for a solar project, the tariffs
have to go up. We are very clear on that.”
Rising interest rates would be “sobering”
for the Indian market, says Vinay Rustagi,
managing director of consultancy firm
Bridge to India. Debt utilised for solar
projects in India is available on a floating
rate basis, which means they are not fixed
and can move up and down with interest
rates in the vital economy, and some PV
developers have taken risks based on a
downward path for interest rates.
Rustagi says: “In a way the sector has
been very lucky because the last 3-4 years
we’ve been on a downward rate trajec-
tory, so that, together with the falling
module prices etc., has actually been
very favourable for the sector. The tariffs
have been going down, and the M&A
market has actually been very buoyant
because people have been refinancing
their projects and then selling them on at
a reasonable premium. It is the first time
really over the last 3-4 years that we are
actually looking at the phenomenon of
rising interest rates and I think that is go-
ing to be sobering.”
Many players were working on projects
under the assumption that interest rates
were going to be stable or low, he says,
but a rise would mean the industry needs
to price it in again, just like the module
price, tax and duty risks.
Rustagi adds: “That is definitely going
to be a check or balance to the industry
in terms of new bidding or even when
people are talking about this M&A activ-
ity, because that is going to be factored in
valuations.”

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9
Effects of an aggressive worldview
Sujoy Ghosh, country head, India, for
US-based thin-film PV manufacturer and
project developer First Solar, says that
when doing the financial modelling for
bidding in projects, one has to take a call
over 25 years on the cost of capital, which
is “cyclical in nature”.
“Currency volatility will remain and so the
question is what kind of a view you take
long-term,” he adds. “Especially for us as
we are not going to hold the asset long-
term. It’s very important for us to take a
view which we can then sell to an incom-
ing investor two years down the line, and
that’s probably one of the reasons where
we never assumed that rupee-dollar ex-
change rate is always going to decline.”
Banks have also started to give longer
tenure loans up to 18 years as standard,
which makes it even harder to predict.
Such predictions, Ghosh says, demon-
strate whether a developer has a conser-
vative or aggressive view of the world,
and it remains to be seen how those who
have taken aggressive views will be af-
fected when rates change direction.
He adds: “If you see the general trend of
consolidation happening where you have
a lot of these developers who are private
equity-backed or platforms which [have]
expensive equity capital, who want an
out in three years; they are all up for sale
now. They are all selling assets. And the
question is: will they come back? Prob-
ably not, because they built at a point in
time when they could take the benefit in
declining curve of cost of capital and the
declining curve of technology. It’s not go-
ing to go down always in that fashion, it’s
not linear.”
The early moving companies who had
deployed private equity or venture capital
funding have now scaled up and accessed
a different class of capital, says Ghosh.
Companies have listed or drawn in sover-
eign wealth funds and pension funds. This
also means that their risk appetite could
go down since such funds are likely to
drive more conservative behaviour.
He adds: “One has to wait and watch
whether those larger platforms, which
now have a different class of investors
dictating what they do – how are they
going to take a view of these cyclical
factors on interest rates and country risks
and macro events which could disrupt?
As an example, US interest rates going
up might see a flight of capital happening
from some of these platforms.”
Citing some of the lowest tariffs bid in
India so far, Ghosh said the industry will
be watching to see if such projects can
deliver returns to investors, and if not,
there could be more consolidation in the
industry.
What’s actually changed?
“A couple of months back we were saying
now the interest rates have come so low,
they are going down even further,” says
Rahul Munjal, chairman and managing
director Hero Future Energies. “Then
what happened was the data that the
government started putting out of either
the jobs or Forex or exports was all under
stress and, when you’re under stress, one
realises the future of interest rates is not
downwards anymore.”
Suggesting that interest rates will now
stay neutral or start to go up like the
other commentators, Munjal says the pric-
ing of future bids will be impacted, but
it’s all speculative since it is always difficult
to predict over 25 years what the average
cost will be.
“But one can take a good guestimate
with experience and you’ll probably be
off by 10% here or there,” he adds. “As
long as you’re 10% better off that’s great.
If you’re more than 10% worse off, then
there are issues in the system.”
Pouring cold water
Despite the concerns, Munjal notes the
importance of having a historical perspec-
tive on the rates. Solar systems devel-
oped around 2012 had project financing
of 12.5-13.5%, but today the industry is at
less than 10%.
“We know it might have gone from a
financeasia.solarenergyevents.com
9.60% to a 9.70% but the reality is you’ve
gone down from 12 to 9.70 in the last five
years,” he adds.
Nonetheless, he says that just two months
ago some players were drawing up busi-
ness plans expecting rates to reach sub-
9% in the next two years, but rates may
now have seen their lowest.
“This number plays a very big role, be-
cause interest costs are the highest cost
that we have,” Munjal adds. “Particularly
in India and solar projects, because of
the amount of years and the amount of
money you borrow.”
Technology first
An in-house legal representative of a
heavyweight international developer that
is active in India, says: “I don’t think the
interest rates are the edge factor for a
competitive company. It doesn’t actually
have substantial difference. Even if I go
with international funding and foreign
funding, still I end up with more or less
the same domestic funding because I go
ahead with the hedging costs.”
For him the most important factor for
competitiveness in the future will be
technological improvements and adapt-
ability, as well as increasing the plant load
factor (PLF).
“We are completely relying upon the
technological improvements,” he says.
Remarking on bidding behaviour, Ashish
Khanna, executive director and CEO of
vertically integrated manufacturer, EPC
and developer, Tata Power Solar, says that
too much importance is being given to
low tariffs for one-off mega projects, when
one is concerned with the full 100GW by
2022 target. He says the industry is going
through a natural process of maturing,
with bids still based on “assumptions in
the Excel spreadsheet” rather than expe-
rience, and he expects more consolida-
tion within the industry to occur and “the
maturity level of some of the developers
will enhance”.
“Some people are trying to match [the]
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Excel sheet with reality, when they are
setting up a project,” he adds. “Reality
should be mapped with what my as-
sumptions were in terms of end use. Am
I getting the same usage as I assumed?
Is my degradation on a y-o-y basis the
same as I have assumed? That is where
the mapping should happen, but we have
not reached that level because we have
progressed too fast. So I think when the
rubber hits the road, then will this auto-
correction, auto-realisation will happen
and it is natural.”
A Green Bank for India
C.Narasimhan, president of the Indian
Solar Association and chairman of Raasi
Group, says that India’s focus on lower
tariffs means it is very sensitive to equip-
ment costs. With the threat of cell costs
going up, but polysilicon prices simulta-
neously going down, he hopes that Q2
will also see module prices come down.
However low-cost funding is also critical.
He decries Indian firms having to pay
such high costs of funding when, across
much of the rest of the globe, funds are
available at 3-5%. Such is his frustration
that he suggests the government should
set up an exclusive renewable energy
bank through which all funds could flow
into the sector at lower rates of perhaps
5-6%. Indian banks should also try to lend
to the sector at below 7%, he adds, to try
to make such projects stable and viable.
He says: “State Bank of India and others
used to lend aggressively in the past,
but now mentality is getting changed
because of the threats and trouble they
are getting from other sectors. Generally
some of the banks talk about the energy
sector not doing well. I ask them: ‘Which
financeasia.solarenergyevents.com
energy are you talking about, are you talk-
ing about general energy, dirty energy,
conventional energy? We are only talking
about renewable energy, clean energy
which is a priority sector of the govern-
ment’.”
India already has separate banks for small
industry and agriculture so Narasimhan
would like to see the same for clean
energy, free from the negative connota-
tions of being part of the overall ‘energy’
landscape in India.
Having been a major factor in drawing
the famously low bids at the Rewa Solar
Park in Madhya Pradesh - as well as the
factors cited above - Interest rates clearly
have a significant impact on Indian solar.
However, for now all eyes will be on the
Ministry of Commerce and its impending
safeguard duty decision.
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Apr 11, 2018

Cambodian C&I solar opportunities still

strong despite low voltage ban
At the end of 2017, the Electricity
Authority of Cambodia (EAC) asked the
industry to give feedback on a draft
regulation for solar, a sector that until
then had been completely unregulated.
There were fears that certain rooftop
PV segments could be made illegal, but
the draft did not mention low voltage
(LV) users, leaving some level of indus-
try optimism.

Subsequently, the official solar regulation

published in February this year allowed
only for medium voltage (MV) and high
voltage (HV) solar customers to con-
nect to the grid, and only under certain
conditions. Meanwhile, grid-connected LV
customers were not allowed.

When it comes to off-grid situations, solar

is still allowed under the regulations.

Jeroen Verschelling, chairman and co-

founder of Cambodia-based solar firm

Credit: Kamworks
Kamworks, which has been active in the
country since 2006, told PV Tech that it
is the C&I sector that has been most af-
fected by the ban since residential solar
has yet to proliferate in the country. The market for grid-connected low voltage solar systems is on hold.

However, Verschelling also noted there is
still uncertainty around a new solar tariff.
State-run utility Electricite Du Cambodge
(EDC) is looking for a higher tariff to make
up for any revenue lost to solar genera-
tion replacing its own power offering. The
industry is still waiting be notified how
high that tariff will be set.
Nodira Amd, programs director at Nexus,
a Southeast Asia-based finance and
network organization, also said it was not
clear if the regulation on LV systems was
retrospective, so one cannot be sure what
will happen to the already installed LV
systems. She added that the government
is now working on the electricity tariff
scheme and capacity charge for MV and
HV consumers with or wishing to install
solar, but with no particular timeline.
Nexus for Development works with many
SMEs, particularly small home-owned
businesses wishing to install solar, and
Amd said that many of these customers
are now on hold due to the ruling against
LV grid connections.
On the other hand, Amd noted that
Nexus sees strong demand for its finan-
cial product in off-grid areas. Even though
Cambodia is aggressively expanding its
grid to rural villages, targeting 100% elec-
trification of villages by 2020, and 70% of
households by 2030, there are still plenty
of off-grid areas with solar opportunities
in the Southeast Asian country. Amd said
Nexus will target such customers for now,
while it waits for the government’s next
action on small-scale systems.
The industry will be hoping for a relax-
ation of the regulation on LV systems, but
this will require an ongoing conversation
with the authorities over the coming year.
Anxious EDC
Perhaps the most obvious reason for EAC
making its ruling against LV systems is
that the utility EDC is nervous about new
forms of generation coming online.
When the regulation was still in the draft
stages, Pradeep Tharakan, senior energy
specialist, Asian Development Bank
(ADB), said that EAC had been worried
about the proliferation of rooftop without

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12
adequate controls, grid codes and instal-
lation standards. It was also concerned
about the effect of solar on EDC’s busi-
ness.
Tharakan suggested that there is a need
for new business models for rooftop solar
that give some benefit or incentive to
utilities so that they feel less under threat.
Shawn Er, partner at International law
firm, Watson Farley & Williams, noted
three major concerns for developers of
rooftop solar:
1. They must ensure they have the
necessary building/zoning permits to
install the PV equipment to the roof-
top and to ensure that – upon instal-
lation – they do not inadvertently and
unintentionally create proprietary
rights to the equipment in favour of
the building owner
2. The developers have sufficiently
adequate rights to use the relevant
rooftop duration of the PPA (or the
lease term – if the solar solution is
structured by way of a leasing model)
3. Their personnel must have timely
access to the relevant rooftop for
installation, ongoing maintenance
and decommissioning
Watson Farley & Williams, in a recent
industry note, said that Cambodia has
superb solar irradiation levels and high
existing electricity tariffs ranging between
US$0.14-0.19/kWh in Phnom Penh and up
to US$0.25kWh in more rural areas, which
should help drive solar. The law firm also
said that Cambodia has several minigrids
as well as mini-utilities that operate under
a franchise system with EDC and that the
operators of these mini-utilities could also
represent strong opportunities for solar
development.
financeasia.solarenergyevents.com
Looking at the utility-scale market, the
law firm said that developers will need
to navigate several land rights-related
issues. For example, ownership of land by
foreign investors in Cambodia is generally
limited to 49%, meaning that foreign de-
velopers need to obtain local partners if
their intention is to own rather than lease
the solar project site.
Overall, there has been some progress in
PV. For example, Kamworks and others
have already built many hundreds of solar
rooftop installations and Singapore-based
clean energy firm Sunseap achieved
financial close on its large-scale 10MW
project at Bavet City in May last year, with
support from ADB. Part of the capacity
from a 100MW solar park is also due to
be tendered this year, again with ADB
support.
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Apr 06, 2018

Thailand’s Gulf Energy plans 48MW

Vietnam solar project with TTC
Thai power firm Gulf Energy Devel-
opment plans to build a 48MW solar
project in Vietnam in partnership with
conglomerate Thanh Thanh Cong
Group (TTC Group), according to a fil-
ing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

The US$66 million solar farm in Trang

Bang district, Tay Ninh province, will be
51% owned by TTC and 49% owned by
Gulf.

The Project has been approved by the

Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam
to sell electricity to the utility EVN under a
20-year contract. Project construction will
commence in June 2018 and commercial
operation is scheduled for June 2019.

Flickr: M_M
The plans comes as part on MoU singed
by Gulf and TTC to form a partnership to The Project has been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam.

jointly study, develop and invest in energy

projects in Vietnam including solar, wind,
natural gas, coal, waste, hydropower and
thermal energy as well as natural gas
import and terminal projects.
Vietnam’s alrge-scale PV industry is
proliferating. Sunseap and InfraCo Asia
recently announced that they are partner-
ing on a 168MW solar project in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, TTC also recently contracted
JGC Corporation to build a 49MW project
in Gia Lai Province.
According to reports from Oliver Mass-
mann of Duane Morris, Mien Trung
Energy JSC plans to invest more VND1.3
trillion (US$57.2 million) in a 50MW solar
power plant on 60 hectares around Dau
Tieng Lake in Tan Chau district. Further-
more, Bien Hoa-Thanh Long One-Mem-
ber plans to build a 30MW solar power
plant, worth VND736 billion (US$32.38
million) on 37 hectares of land in Thanh
Long commune, Chau Thanh district.

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14
Apr 05, 2018

Hyundai group awards itself 65MW /

130MWh South Korea solar-plus-storage
contracts
Various companies in the Hyundai
engineering and industrial construc-
tion group will work together on a
65MW solar PV plant with 130MWh of
co-located battery energy storage in
Seosan, South Korea.

Earlier this week Korean news outlets

including the Yonhap News Agency and
Joongang Daily reported that Hyundai
Engineering and Construction (Hyundai
E&C), part of the group that is perhaps
best known outside Korean for its cars,
had awarded a 100 billion Won (US$94
million) to two of its affiliates, Hyundai
Heavy Industries Green Energy and Hyun-
dai Electric & Energy Systems, both part
of Hyundai Heavy Industries.

The projects are in South Chungcheong
in the north-west of South Korea and fol-
low on the heels of reports late last year
that Hyundai is also planning a 150MWh
battery storage plant in Ulsan, on the
country’s east coast for Korea Zinc.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Green Energy
will supply solar equipment including PV
modules and inverters, while Hyundai
Electric & Energy Systems will provide the
battery energy storage system. No details
were provided on the application of stor-
age, although Joongang Daily reported
that the facility will “save energy for later
use”.
PV plant on rooftop of a Hyundai group facility.
Renewable energy activities only account-
ed for some 1.7% of Hyundai’s overall
revenues in last year’s reported consoli-
dated earnings, but Joongang Daily said
the group is “banking on” renewables as
a promising area for the business.
Unlike other regional markets where
tenders and national policy have driven
forward the large-scale energy storage
industry, South Korea’s private businesses
and national grid and utility operators
Image: Hyundai.
have been contracting large-scale storage
projects directly from the likes of domes-
tic makers Doosan – which built a sizeable
C&I solar-plus-storage system at its own
head offices in Changwon –​ and Kokam
– while two of the world’s biggest lithium
battery and storage industry companies,
Samsung SDI and LG Chem, are South
Korea-headquartered. In 2016, the gov-
ernment revealed a plan to incentivise the
installation of energy storage at solar PV
generation facilities.

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15
Apr 03, 2018

Filipino energy giant AboitizPower enters

rooftop solar space
The new company, called Aboitiz
Power Distributed Energy, Inc. (APX), is
already looking at completing several
key projects in Luzon and Visayas this
year.

The firm first entered the solar power

market in 2016 with its large-scale 59MW
San Carlos Sun (Sacasun) project in San
Carlos City, Negros Occidental. To date,
AboitizPower has clean energy capacity
of 1,272MW spread across solar, geother-
mal, run-of-river hydro, and large hydro-
power facilities.

“We have been in the power industry for

more than 80 years. This gives us a wealth
of knowledge and technical capability

Credit: AboitizPower
that we can share to our customers who
want to go into solar,” said AboitizPower
president Antonio Moraza.

AboitizPower is also one of the largest
power producers in the Philippines with
a portfolio of assets located across the
country including fossil fuel-based power
plants using coal and oil. The company
also owns distribution utilities that oper-
ate in high-growth areas in Luzon, Visayas,
The firm first entered the solar power market in 2016 with its large-scale 59MW San Carlos Sun (Sacasun)
project.
and Mindanao, including the second and space is still largely held up by regula-
third largest private utilities in the country. tory issues, its commercial and industrial
rooftop space is said to be thriving.
While the Philippines utility-scale solar

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16
Mar 29, 2018
Pakistan’s Sindh details 400MW solar parks
and 250,000 solar homes plan
The government of Sindh in Pakistan
has prepared a framework to address
the potential environmental, resettle-
ment, and social impacts associated
with its major solar initiative, for which
it is seeking World Bank funding.
The Sindh Solar Energy Program (SSEP),
a pioneering scheme in Pakistan, aims to
support solar deployment in the province
across utility-scale, distributed generation
and residential segments.
This includes up to 400MW of solar park
capacity (50-200MW per park), starting
with 50MW that will see the first tariff-
based competitive auctions in Pakistan
– the plans for which were announced last
December. The Solar Park concept aims
to help to reduce the risk profile for pri-
vate sector developers by ensuring that
land is secured, permits obtained, and
power off-take is pre-arranged.
The first 50MW site near Manjhand, Jam-
shoro District, has already been identified
with land secured, and the aim is to com-
plete this pilot solar auction by the end of
2018, allowing the project to be opera-
tional by 2020. When first announced a
formal procurement process was sched-
uled to take place in Q2 this year.
The progam also aims for 15MW of dis-
tributed PV on rooftops of public sector
buildings and others in the cities of Kara-
chi and Hyderabad as well as a target of
bringing sola home systems to a quarter
of a million households in areas of Sindh
with poor access to electricity.
Electricity generated from distributed
solar in Sindh is expected to have tariffs
of around US$0.06-0.10/kWh, lower than
the retail tariff charged by utilities.
The project is not entirely Sindh focused
as the aim is to spur on other Pakistani
provinces through example.
Distributed solar in Sindh is expected to have tariffs around US$0.06-0.10 per kWh, lower than the retail tariff
charged by utilities.
The new ‘Environmental and Social Man-
agement Framework’ (ESMF) released this
week is in line with the national and pro-
vincial regulatory as well as World Bank
(WB) safeguard requirements. While the
location of most projects under the solar
program are yet to be decided, the ESMF
aims to identify generic environmental
and social impacts of the projects.
The 209 page document details how
to mitigate these impacts and details a
Grievance Address Mechanism, consulta-
tions and a host of other processes. The
main concerns for the three segments,
which were all deemed ‘low to moderate’
in significance, were also laid out in detail.
Since PV Tech reported that Pakistan was
just a solar power purchase agreement
(PPA) signing away from emphatically
breaching grid parity, another solar firm
Siachen Energy has submitted a tariff pe-
tition for a 100MW solar project at Gharo,
District Thatta, Sindh, with another tariff
well below grid parity (US$6.2939), but the
developer must now wait for the regulator
to respond with its tariff determination.
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Flick: Paul Keller
EcoEnergy bags funding for off-grid
solar in rural Pakistan
In separate news, EcoEnergy, a solar
energy provider in Pakistan, has secured
US$600,000 in debt finance to help it pro-
vide off-grid solar energy to 10,000 of the
poorest rural households in the country.
EcoEnergy struck the deal with SIMA, a
social investment advisor and manager
backed by the Dutch and Belgian govern-
ment development banks, AXA, MetLife,
USAID and the pension fund of the Epis-
copalian and Lutheran churches.
EcoEnergy will use the capital to purchase
products, technology and services from
UK-based BBOXX, a next generation
utility company that is highly active in
off-grid services in Africa among other
destinations. BBOXXX will provide its
cloud-based task management software,
Pulse. EcoEnergy will then scale up its op-
erations and extend distribution of smart
solar home systems across the country,
having been constrained until now by a
lack of access to working capital.
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17
 Mar 28, 2018
TNB signs PPAs for 180MW of solar
projects in Malaysia
Malaysian utility Tenaga Nasional
Berhad (TNB) has signed 21-year
power purchase agreements (PPAs) for
180MW of solar PV projects in Ma-
laysia, according to a filing on Bursa
Malaysia.
The PPAs were signed with:
Bidder
Kenyir Solar Park and Gunkul Engineering
Hasilwan and Idiqa Holding
BGMC Corporation and Bras Venture
Gaya Dunia, Enerta and Ambang Fiesta
Revenue Vantage and Cypark Renewable Energy
Nippon Bumijaya and B&Z Mechanical and Electrical
Credit: Solar Media
The developers will design, construct, own, operate and maintain the PV projects.
The developers will design, construct, week it also signed PPAs for 60MW(AC) of
own, operate and maintain the PV proj- projects developed by TNB subsidiaries.
ects.
Last December, the Energy Commission
TNB has completed more than 50% of a of Malaysia (EC) released the list of win-
50MW solar PV project in Selangor, on the ning developers in its second Large-Scale
west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, having Solar (LSS) tender round, offering roughly
started construction in July last year. Last 563MWac of capacity.
capacity (MWac)
29.99
30
30
30
30
30
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18
 This report was created with articles from the
following Solar Media journalists

Andy Colthorpe
Tom Kenning

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