Sharp to build giant solar plant in Vietnam as country pledges to adopt clean energy

Asian electronics giant Sharp has signed an agreement to build a huge solar power plant in central Vietnam, a move that could tap the country's largely unused renewable energy resources.

Sharp Corporation and Vietnam's Gia Lai Electricity JSC agreed last Friday to build a 48MW plant in Thua Thien Hue Province on Vietnam’s central coast, Japanese JCN Newswire said.

The plant is expected to start operations in September 2018, generating enough power for 32,628 average households in Vietnam, or around 0.1 percent of its population, said ICON, a news website run by the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam.

The supply will help reduce CO2 emissions by around 20,500 tons a year compared to coal-fired power plants, which play a key role in Vietnam’s energy chain, the report said.

Sharp is a multinational electronics corporation based in Sakai, Japan, and has been an integral part of Taiwan-based Foxconn Group since 2016.

The agreement comes at a time when the country is calling for investment in solar power after plans to build two nuclear power plants with Russia and Japan were scrapped in November 2016 due to high costs.

Solar power currently accounts for 0.01 percent of the country’s total power output, but the government plans to increase the ratio to 3.3 percent by 2030 and 20 percent by 2050.

Vietnam depends largely on hydropower and thermal power plants for its electricity demands, but the projects have often drawn criticism from both local and international communities due to environmental concerns.

Vietnam is aiming to produce 10.7 percent of its electricity through renewable energy by 2030, mainly through solar and wind energy.