Conergy Secures 31.5 MW Order Thailand

Conergy has strengthened its position in Thailand with a major 31.5 megawatt order. It is the second large-scale project for the Bangkok-based client and investor Siam Solar Energy 1 Co., Ltd. (SSE), a subsidiary of Thai Solar Energy Company Limited (TSE).

 

In autumn 2012, Conergy started constructing two power plants for SSE with a total installed capacity of 21 megawatts. Both plants are scheduled to be connected to the grid in the first quarter of 2013. Three additional solar parks with an installed capacity of 10.5 megawatts each are now to follow. Hence, the two partners' commitment towards each other allowed the three additional solar parks to be realized within a few months of the first two solar parks now under construction, for a total combined installed capacity of 52.5 megawatts.

Conergy CEO Comberg: "We want to significantly expand our large project business."

"We have made many important decisions already last year to strengthen our international project business and to significantly expand it in the solar growth markets. With this large-scale project in Thailand we let action follow our decisions," said Conergy CEO Dr. Philip Comberg. "For the future, we intend to work on large-scale projects specifically and long-term with financial investors and strategic industrial customers who want to expand their portfolio like SSE with independent energy power plants. In addition to the growing Asian markets such as Thailand, we are focusing our efforts on the American solar market."

The three new power plants are located in the provinces of Suphanburi and Kanchanaburi in western Thailand, some 130 kilometres from Bangkok. Once again, Conergy is acting as general contractor for this major order, assuming responsibility for the entire planning, engineering and design as well as for the supply of the components and the installation of the three large-scale solar plants, which will cover around 790,000 square metres in total. For the construction work on the ground, Conergy is collaborating repeatedly with its long-standing local partners Annex Power and Ensys. 

Once construction of the power plants is completed in May 2013, the 130,000 Conergy "P-series" modules installed on some 130 kilometres of Conergy SolarLinea mounting systems will generate over 45,200 megawatt hours of clean electricity each year. That is 1.3 times the electricity consumed by the residents of the provincial capital Kanchanaburi, location of the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai. The solar parks will also prevent the emission of around 24,000 tonnes of damaging CO2 each year, more than 2,400 hectares of wood can absorb over the same period.

Government support for solar in Thailand works via licences, similar to the situation in the USA. By means of so-called "Power Purchase Agreements" (PPAs), the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) guarantees plant operators a fixed purchase price for solar power. The PPAs comprise the average electricity price plus an additional premium, the so-called "Adder". This "Adder" is currently set at 6.5 Thai Baht "“ which corresponds to around 16 Euro cents "“ and is guaranteed for 10 years. The power plant operator thus receives the total of the average grid electricity price and the "adder" by way of remuneration. There are also plans in Thailand for a feed-in tariff for roof-top plants, intended to provide a further boost to the generation of power from renewable sources.