SEACEF invests in Vietnamese floating solar and storage project

Clime Capital, a Singapore-based investment management company in charge of SEACEF funding, has invested in the development of a floating solar and storage project in Dong Nai Province in Vietnam.

The project, currently being developed by Blueleaf Energy, comprises a 500MWp floating solar plant, with battery energy storage system (BESS) of up to 200MWh capacity.

The funding from SEACEF, short for Southeast Asia Clean Energy Facility, aims to demonstrate that there is an alternative to locking in thermal capacity in Vietnam through a cost-competitive and environmentally sustainable solutions.

SEACEF represents a collaboration between leading international foundations, including Sea Change Foundation and Microsoft, to accelerate the low carbon transition in Southeast Asia.

The Dong Nai project is designed to have the capability to provide mid merit and peaking power that would traditionally be provided by unsustainable or fossil-fuel sources.

Through the introduction of energy storage, the project allows the country’s dominant power utility EVN to accommodate increased renewable energy capacity while also reducing stress on its power grid system, according to SEACEF.

The project is expected to avoid an average of approximately 372kt CO2 emissions per year over a 25-year lifetime, and a maximum of 412 ktCO2 if the battery uses solar generation to displace peaking diesel generation.

Sol Proops, CEO at Blueleaf Energy, said: “SEACEF’s early-stage investment into the Dong Nai project has been crucial in our ability to continue to progress development of this large and important infrastructure project that should serve as a template for other floating solar and storage opportunities in South East Asia”.

Mason Wallick, CEO of Clime Capital, added: “Vietnam’s Power Development Plan for 2021 to 2030 may include significant thermal power capacities to address an impending power shortage as economic growth drives electrical demand. We believe advanced technologies like solar and storage peaking plants can help address Vietnam’s power shortage issues in a cost-effective sustainable manner”.