HCM CITY — The Bank for the Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV), the BIDV Insurance Corporation (BIC) and Bách Khoa Energy Corporation (SolarBK) on September 20 signed a cooperation agreement to guarantee financial support for household rooftop solar power project.

The project, known as BigKilowat (BigK), will support the development of clean energy by offering monetary support for customers who want to install rooftop solar panels.

BIDV will provide 70 per cent of the total cost for households to install solar electricity systems, with the goal of sponsoring 277,000 home installations in Việt Nam by the end of 2019.

Nguyễn Ngọc Quỳnh, the director of SolarBK’s marketing department, said 748 solar power systems have been installed on roofs across the country since July, including 327 in HCM City.

She said BigK will make it much more convenient for residents and homeowners to turn their rooftops into part of the green energy solution, letting them save on electricity while also supplying power to the country’s grid.

Each system will save at least US$500 in power fees and cut three tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

Vice Chairman and General Secretary of Việt Nam’s Electrical Engineering Association, Nguyễn Tấn Lộc, said rooftop solar panels could help meet the country’s increasing demand for power in the coming years.

He said Việt Nam’s power use is still growing rapidly – at a rate of 10.6 per cent each year – and some new power projects have been delayed.

Lộc said the national power grid has been overloaded when use is high in the country’s southern regions.

SolarBK, a leading solar power producer in Việt Nam, also plans to build the first 4.4MW solar farm in Đà Nẵng to supply 7.7 million kWh per year to the city’s power grid while reducing annual carbon emissions by 5,000 tonnes.

It also developed a wind-solar renewable energy system on the Trường Sa Islands, and a renewable energy–powered desalination system on Song Tử Tây Island.

SolarBK was the first company to manufacture solar panels in Việt Nam. It invested $17 million in a plant in Vũng Tàu Province and began exporting solar panels to North America, Europe, the Middle East and North Asia in 2017.

SolarBK’s first solar project won the ‘Outstanding Project’ award in the Smart Renewable Energy category at the Smarter Energy Awards 2018 in Munich, Germany. — VNS