To foster the rapid growth rate of Viet Nam's economy from now through 2030 the energy sector needs to grow at 10 per cent annually to supply 500 billion kWh of commercial electricity by that year.

This is a big concern, especially since coal, petroleum and hydropower resources have been fully exploited for a long time.

Amid the global trend of environmental protection and developing green - clean energy sources, renewable energy is considered an inevitable solution for the future.

On June 19, 2019, TTC Group and Gulf Group (Thailand) held the inauguration ceremony of TTC No. 01 and No. 02 Solar Power Plants in Thanh Thanh Cong Industrial Zone, An Hoi Hamlet, An Hoa commune, Trang Bang District, Tay Ninh Province, 57 km from Tay Ninh City and 48 km from HCM City.

Delegates cut the ribbon to inaugurate TTC No. 01 and No. 02 Solar Power Plants in Thanh Thanh Cong Industrial Zone, Tay Ninh Province.

TTC Solar Power Project No. 01 has been built on an area of ​​69.5 hectares, solar PV panels installed on 42.5 hectares, and has a capacity of 68.8 MWp.

The project broke ground on May 25, 2018, and cost approximately US$65 million. Due to the effective support from management, staff and contractors, within just 10 months the project was put into operation on March 6, 2019.

A total of 208,500 solar panels have been installed, each with a capacity of 330W.

The plant will supply around 106 million kWh per year to the national grid, meeting the electricity needs of around 87,347 households and reducing CO2 emissions by 85.45 tonnes a year.

TTC Solar Power Project No. 02, situated next door, has been built on an area of 50ha, with PV panels occupying 39.2 hectares, and has a capacity of 50 MWp.

Construction began on August 10, 2018, at a cost of $50 million.

It has 151,500 panels.

Construction took only eight months and the plant began commercial operation on April 19, 2019. It will provide 78 million kWh/year, meeting the needs of 63,669 households and reducing CO2 emissions by 62.29 tonnes a year.

To achieve the schedule, TTC Group and Gulf Group chose competent and highly experienced contractors in the field of renewables.

JGC Vietnam Co., Ltd. was selected as the EPC contractor, Artelia Vietnam Co., Ltd., and Thanh Thanh Cong Investment JSC were the construction supervision consultants.

TTC No. 1 had Hoang Viet Hung Ltd Company as an additional contractor for installing 110 kV transmission lines.

Addressing the ceremony, a representative of TTC Group said: “TTC Group with many businesses is seeking to accelerate the progress of new projects to meet the energy demand for socio-economic development.

“With the support of the Government and relevant agencies together with the promotion for the programme on economical and efficient use of energy, TTC Energy Segment has achieved encouraging results.”

Talking about the siginificance of having Gulf as a joint venture partner, a TTC Group representative said: "Gulf Group and TTC Group have a similar vision and core value: sustainable development.

Huỳnh Bích Ngọc, permanent deputy chairwoman of TTC Group, affirms that TTC always focuses on developing synchronous forms of energy, especially renewable and environment-friendly ones.

“TTC Group always focuses on developing synchronous forms of energy, especially renewable and environment-friendly ones, thereby improving the value chain of production and business activities and strengthening national energy security.

“Therefore, the official inauguration of these two projects will help minimise the negative impacts on the environment.”

Gulf Group said: "Gulf expects to engage in environmental protection and contribute to climate change mitigation, energy conservation and generation of green energy, especially in Viet Nam.

“We want to maintain continuous growth in Viet Nam because the country is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia and the demand for energy is forecast to increase at a rapid rate.

"Gulf Group is pleased to be a joint venture partner of TTC Group  to deploy these two solar power plants. As a co-investor, we undertake technical site monitoring and solar project management.

“Gulf staffs are rotated from the headquarters in Thailand to work full-time in Vietnam to maintain a constant workflow and ensure quality control in the construction and operation phases.

“At the same time, based on the practical experience of implementing successful projects, we are committed to using the best resources to operate the two plants safely and effectively, and this will be a premise for long-term cooperation.”

With a target of becoming one of the top private companies investing in clean energy in Vietnam, TTC Group is one of the pioneers in the field of renewable energy and has put into operation many solar power projects.

Within a short period TTC Energy Segment has successfully put into operation seven renewable energy plants and operates 16 hydropower plants and nine thermal power plants fuelled by sugarcane bagasse.

Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited is one of Thailand’s leading energy producers and invests in power projects, water and steam operation projects and others.

Gulf operates 26 power plants, and is constantly expanding to international markets.

As of May 31 this year the gross installed capacity of Gulf's power projects, including those that have achieved commercial operation and those under development scheduled to be completed by 2024, is 11,910.4 MW, of which the equity installed capacity is 6,877.8 MW.

Under their agreement, Gulf Group and TTC Group are planning to develop another wind power project (310 MW) and a solar power project (30 MW) in Ben Tre Province.

Through TTC No. 01 and TTC No. 02 Solar Power Plants, TTC Group and Gulf Group have created jobs for local workers, enhanced energy security and contributed to the green - clean energy campaign, which is gathering pace globally.