Sunseap Group has won the tender for one of Singapore’s largest solar projects, to install more than 170,000 solar panels on rooftops
of Housing & Development Board (HDB) buildings.
Under the SolarNova 4 contract, Sunseap will be installing PV systems across more than 1,200 HDB blocks and 49 government sites. Six government agencies will be participating in the fourth tender.
The PV systems, when operational, will generate up to 70 MWp of solar energy, an amount typically generated from powering around 17,500 four-room HDB flats annually.
Including SolarNova 4, Sunseap will have installed more than 600,000 solar panels across 2.4 million square meters of roofspace, and will have produced enough clean energy to power more than 60,000 four-room HDB households.
The SolarNova program, jointly led by the HDB and the Economic Development Board (EDB), aggregates solar demand across government agencies to leverage economies of scale so that agencies with smaller energy demands are able to enjoy clean energy at a lower cost.
This is the second SolarNova tender won by Sunseap, the first being in 2015.
Frank Phuan, CEO and executive director of Sunseap Group, said: “This project is a significant milestone for solar adoption in Singapore. When this project is completed, Sunseap would have installed solar systems on top of more than 2,700 HDB blocks, or more than 27% of all HDB blocks. This is also in line with Singapore’s pledge at the recent United Nations Climate Action Summit, where our prime minister said that Singapore will be switching to a cleaner fuel mix and using cleaner energy solutions in order to reduce our carbon emission by 2030.
“This is a testament to our tremendous growth since we started Sunseap eight years ago and it would not have been possible without the support of partners like HDB and EDB.”
Phuan added that Sunseap will deploy at least 170,000 bifacial solar panels, the latest in solar technology. Unlike typical solar panels, the bifacial solar panels are able to generate power on both sides of the modules and therefore increase energy yield by up to 15%. They are also more durable, lasting up to 30 years, as compared to 25 years previously.
Lawrence Wu, president and executive director of Sunseap Group, said: “This tender truly reinvigorates us and the work we do by providing us the thrust to continue playing our part as a corporation in combating climate change, and an opportunity to generate more renewable energy for the masses in Singapore. Sunseap will continue to be relentless in developing new sources of clean energy generation and energy efficiency projects across Singapore to help achieve the reduction of carbon emissions.”
Since its inception in 2011, Sunseap has grown to become one of the largest developers in the region with a total contracted, completed and developmental asset project capacity of 1.7 GWp. It has a pipeline of projects in Australia, China, Taiwan, Japan and other parts of Southeast Asia.
In June, it commissioned a 168 MWp solar system in the Ninh Thuan province of Vietnam, one of the largest solar farms in the country. In Singapore, it is the largest developer of solar systems, winning six out of nine solar tenders held by the government to install solar systems on the rooftops of public housing and other government properties. Notable clients include Apple, Microsoft, the Singapore American School, the Singapore Cruise Centre, Jurong Port, ABB, Panasonic, PSA Singapore, ST Kinetics and Keppel Energy Ventures.
Some of its noteworthy innovative projects include participating in one of the world’s largest floating PV test-beds, in Singapore at the Tengeh Reservoir; building one of the world's largest offshore floating solar farms along the Straits of Johor; and installing a hybrid off-grid solar system for Tanglin Academy, the largest tennis academy in Singapore.
