Vietnam

The Chinese manufacturer has supplied 258 MW of monocrystalline PERC double glass modules to Trung Nam Group. It claims the project is one of the biggest solar-wind installations in the Southeast Asian country.

As the solar industry digests yesterday’s announcement by Theresa May of a net zero carbon ambition by 2050, developer Solarcentury says Downing Street is hugely underestimating the role PV can play in achieving that milestone.

A study of the relative costs of generation using coal and PV has focused on Vietnam as a case study as the nation is dependent on costly imports of seaborne coal. Analysts paint a straightforward picture explaining why a planned 32 GW new coal pipeline should be shelved.

A unit of the Japanese electronics group has finished building a 49 MW solar array in Quang Ngai province, in collaboration with Thailand’s Sermsang Power.

The Mumbai-based EPC contractor and module manufacturer expects its international business to account for more than 15% of its overall revenue. The company’s latest installation, in Vietnam, marks the completion of over 600 MW of solar EPC projects, with an additional 100 MW in its international pipeline.

Although only four PV plants with a combined capacity of 150 MW were grid connected by mid-April, the Vietnamese government expects another 88 FIT-entitled solar facilities to come online by the end of next month. By Sunday, 34 projects with a combined capacity of 2.2 GW had already arrived on top of the mid-April connections.

Renewable energy investment in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding China, will overtake spending on oil and gas exploration and production by 2020, finds Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy. And Australia is set to emerge as one of the leading investment destinations.

While the world’s biggest solar manufacturers are confident there are plenty of alternative markets for a rising volume of panel exports, the message spelled out by first-quarter shipment figures is that protectionism works.

Scatec wants to expand in Southeast Asia and Vietnam is poised to become a hot market thanks to a generous feed-in tariff and a government that has set tight carbon emission targets.

With Narendra Modi being tipped to triumph again in the current Indian elections, Indian solar capacity is expected to grow robustly, at 15.3% per year, on the back of continued strong government support.