Gia Lai (VNA) – The Krong Pa mega-solar powerplant was officially inaugurated by the Gia Lai Electricity JSC, a member ofTTC Group, in Chu Gu commune, Krong Pa district, the Central Highlands provinceof Gia Lai on December 2.

The 70-hectare plant, designed to have a capacity of 49MW, began construction in March 2018 at a cost of more than 1.4 trillion VND(59.77 million USD). It was built by JGC Vietnam, a Japan-owned engineeringcompany specialising in EPC (Engineering – Procurement – Construction) servicesand technical solutions for various industries.

With over 209,000 330Wp solar panels, the facility isexpected to add 103 million kWh annually to the national grid and provide electricityfor about 47,000 local households. It is also estimated to help reduce CO2emission by some 29,000 tonnes per year.

In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Chairman of theprovincial People’s Committee Vo Ngoc Thanh spoke highly of efforts by TTCGroup in putting the solar power into operation on schedule and asked the groupto continue investing in other local key projects to boost the province’ssocio-economic development.

Gia Lai Electricity JSC took the occasion to present 10charity houses, worth a total of 500 million VND, to disadvantaged householdsin Krong Pa district.

Krong Pa isseen as ideal for developing solar power thanks to its year-round sunnyweather. The annual temperature in the district averages more than 25 degreesCelsius with about six hours of sunshine a day, or about 2,500 hours each yearwhile the standard used to build a solar power plant is 1,500 sunshine hoursper year.

Solar power isexpected to create plenty of jobs for local people and improve living standardsin Krong Pa, one of the poorest districts in Gia Lai,

According to the provincial Department of Planning andInvestment, the province has become a hotspot for solar power with 33 solarpower projects invested by 23 firms, having a total capacity of 4,000MWp.

Among the projects, two have received approvalfrom the provincial authorities with combined capacity of 98MWp, 11 with totalcapacity of 675MWp have been submitted to authorities for approval, and 20 otherswith total capacity of 3,195MWp are still being evaluated. 

In addition, 12 investors are now looking for possiblelocations for another 17 solar projects with total capacity of 1,330MWp. –VNA