Government leaders and representatives of investors at the grand opening ceremony of Dầu Tiếng solar power plant. — Photo nhandan.org.vn

HÀ NỘI — Dầu Tiếng Energy Joint Stock Company inaugurated the Dầu Tiếng solar power plant, the largest solar power project in ASEAN, in the southern province of Tây Ninh.

The project is a financial co-operation between the company and Thailand’s B.Grimm Power Public Company limited, with total investment of more than VNĐ9.1 trillion (US$384 million).

After more than 10 months of construction, the project officially connected to the national electricity grid in June this year, supplying green energy for Tây Ninh Province and supplementing power for the southern region.

The 504ha project, located in Dầu Tiếng Reservoir with a designed capacity of 420MW, is expected to supply about 688 million kWh per year to the national grid, which is equivalent to the annual consumption volume of nearly 320,000 households in Việt Nam.

Speaking at the grand opening ceremony held in the province on Saturday, head of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission Nguyễn Văn Bình said this is a pioneer project in exploiting and developing great potential for renewable solar energy locally according to the Government's policy of encouraging the development of renewable energy, as well as demonstrating the deep economic co-operation between Việt Nam and Thailand

“The DT1 and DT2 complexes have turned Tây Ninh to be one of the hubs of solar power of the whole country; exploiting commercial electricity according to designed capacity, contributing to supplementing precious, green and clean energy sources, ensuring national energy security and serving local socio-economic development in the industrialisation and modernisation process,” Bình said.

Bình said Việt Nam encourages investment and development of renewable energy including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy, which will be gradually replacing traditional energy sources such as thermal power and hydropower, adding: “Renewable energy is a clean, environmentally friendly energy source that is the general development trend of the world.” — VNS