With attractive investment attraction policies and favorable natural conditions, Dak Lak is become a destination for many solar and wind power projects.

Making hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong per day

Up to now, the Cluster of Srepok 1 Solar Power Plant of Dai Hai Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (Dai Hai Company) and Quang Minh Solar Power Plant of Srepok Solar Power Joint Stock Company (Srepok Solar Power Co.) with a total capacity of 100 MWp has been the largest solar power plant cluster in Vietnam.

Introducing the field covered with a panel to catch the sun’s energy and run close to kilometers, Mr. Tran Ba Quang, Plant Manager said “We have just energized a few days on the grid. It is sunny from 6 am to 6 pm in this season. This electric field generates hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong per day”.

Four months of land allocation, four months of factory completion

When the government and Dak Lak province had a policy to develop solar power in 2015, Dai Hai Company thought about turning this arid land into a renewable energy “battery” with a determination to invest in the Srepok 4 Hydropower Plant, with a capacity of 80 MW.

Checking equipments at the Solar Power Plant

 “We have monitored continuously for 2 years and by 2017, we confirmed that we could build a solar power plant. At that time, we sought EPC contractor but they offered very high prices. We went everywhere, from Germany, China to India to find out contractors and lastly realized that Vietnamese companies could do it on their own with the much lower cost than that of foreign contractors”, Mr. Quang recalled.

After investing nearly VND 2,000 billion, Dai Hai Company has installed more than 300,000 panels of size 1m x 2m as well as transformer, conductor and equipment systems to transform the sun’s energy into electricity and supply the electricity for the national grid. It only takes four months to build the entire Srepok 1 Solar Power Plant, from the beginning to the time of power generation.

In addition to the efforts of Dai Hai Company, the People's Committee of Dak Lak province also drastically participated in the land clearance. In just 4 months, the provincial People's Committee handed over to investors 120 hectares of clean land, no conflict between people and the investors.

“We highly appreciate the drastic direction of the Provincial People's Committee and the professional implementation of the Department of Planning and Investment, Department of Industry and Trade, People's Committee of Buon Don district, etc. The project can be deployed conveniently because the province has called for investment as well as fast and professionally implemented ”Mr. Quang said.

Benefit for the people, the government and also enterprises

The plant construction has created jobs for hundreds of local workers. At the peak, there were 300-400 local workers coming to work on the construction site. With the guidance of engineers, M'nong, Ede, Ja-rai workers can also participate in concrete placing, column erection, panel installment, etc despite their low educational level.

Controlling center of the Solar Power Plant

According to Mr. Quang, with the currently price of 9.35 US cents per kWh for commercial electricity, the solar power plant will surely be a sustainable profitable investment for businesses. He estimates that Dai Hai Company will pay for the state budget about VND 30 billion each year. In addition, the land value has been well- exploited, because the land in the factory area was formerly abandoned, but now can earn VND 2 billion per hectare per year.

In the future, Dak Lak may be the second solar power capital of the country, only after Ninh Thuan, turning this place into a renewable energy “battery” of the Central Highlands. There are not only two solar power plants named Srepok 1 and Quang Minh, more than 30 solar and wind power projects have been surveying in Buon Don, Ea Sup, Krong Bong, etc. In which, there are very large projects like the project of Xuan Thien Company (Ninh Binh), project of Long Thanh Infrastructure Development Company, project of AES Group.

Talking about the potential of solar power, Mr. Nguyen Hai Ninh - Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Deputy Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, said that the province has advocated the development of solar power in barren and hard-to-cultivate areas. Besides clearance work, the province has been working with the Vietnam Electricity to get connected to the national grid.

Mr. Nguyen Hai Ninh stressed: “Dak Lak province will announce projects to attract investment in solar and wind power at the Conference on Dak Lak Investment Promotion, 2019 which will be held on  March 10. Investors coming to Dak Lak will surely be accessed to transparent information and given enthusiastic and professional support because we always keep in mind how both businesses and localities will benefit".

Source: https://baodautu.vn