The company said it is currently holding advanced discussions with "leading developers" in Vietnam in an effort to secure these job opportunities.
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The EPC contractor anticipates to create jobs for 600-700 people during construction and 50 during the 20-year maintenance phase.
"Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with nearly 8-10% annual increase in power consumption by industries who are the largest consumers of electricity in the country," said Bikesh Ogra, CEO - Renewable Energy and Energy Storage, Sterling and Wilson on its press release.
Government is aiming at 0.8 gigawatt (GW) of solar power by 2020 which the experts feel has a potential of 7 GW of solar projects in present conditions. We are closely working with leading developers to join the larger aim of bringing affordable and clean energy to Vietnamese."
Sterling and Wilson is currently building a 1,177-MW solar plant in Abu Dhabi and is also working on projects in Zambia, Egypt, Namibia, Niger, Jordan, Argentina and Morocco. In the Southeast Asia region, the company has over 50 MW of PV plants that are already operational in the Philippines, which is powering nearly 30,000 homes, and a 60-MW project in the commissioning phase in Bangladesh.
Vietnam's large-scale solar power industry is proliferating, this month, Thai power producer Gulf Energy Development planned to build a 48 MW solar project in Vietnam in cooperation with Thanh Thanh Cong Group (TTC Group), according to a filing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Sunseap International, the international arm of Singapore`s leading clean energy provider Sunseap Group, has signed an agreement with InfraCo Asia Development Pte Ltd (InfraCo Asia) to jointly develop a 168 MW utility-scale solar power project in Vietnam in February. Meanwhile, TTC also recently contracted JGC Corporation to build a 49MW project in Gia Lai Province.
In January, AC Energy, the energy sector business arm of the Philippines' largest conglomerate Ayala Group, also announced that it is investing in Vietnam's solar power industry through a partnership with Vietnam-headquartered BIM Group to jointly develop over 300 megawatts (MW) of solar power projects in Vietnam's Ninh Thuan province.
According to reports from Oliver Massmann 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. Furthermore, Bien Hoa-Thanh Long One-Member 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.
Solar power is expected to become the main new renewable energy source in the future, with installed capacity to be increased from around six to seven megawatt (MW) at the end of 2017 to 850 MW by 2020, accounting for 1.6% of the country's power generation and 12,000 MW by 2030 or 3.3% of Vietnam's power generation, following the targets set by the government.
