BIM solar power plant is a 330MW solar power complex located in Ninh Thuan Province of Vietnam. BIM Group and AC Energy jointly developed the project under their renewable energy development platform named BIM\AC Renewables.
Construction of the project was commenced in January 2018 and completed in just 14 months. With a development cost of more than 7,000 billion VND (approximately $298m), the solar farm created approximately 2,000 jobs during the construction phase.
The plant was commissioned in May 2019 and is expected to produce 600 million kilo watt hour (kWh) of electricity a year.
The electricity generated by the solar power plant will be sufficient for approximately 200,000 homes a year. The project offsets approximately 304,400 tons per annum of CO2 emissions.
Project Gallery
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The 330MW BIM solar power complex comprises three facilities namely BIM 1, BIM 2, and BIM 3. Image courtesy of AC Energy.
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BIM Group and AC Energy jointly developed the solar power plant with an investment of 7,000 billion VND (approximately $298m). Image courtesy of BIM Group.
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The three power plants are together installed with approximately one million solar panels. Image courtesy of BIM Group.
BIM solar power plant location and details
BIM solar plant is located in the Ninh Thuan province, which is in the South Central coast region of Vietnam. The project is expected to support Ninh Thuan Province’s aim to achieve 5GW of renewable energy capacity by 2025, including 50% of total energy output from renewables.
The 330MW BIM solar power plant comprises more than one million solar panels extending in more than 300 hectares (ha) of land. It is made up of three facilities namely BIM 1, BIM 2, and BIM 3.
The BIM 1 facility has an installed capacity of 30MW, while the BIM 2 and BIM 3 have 250MW and 50MW, respectively.
Extending in 35ha land within the Phuoc Minh commune, the BIM 1 facility was developed with an investment of VND800bn ($35.2m). It included the installation of 90,000 solar panels and other modern equipment and is anticipated to generate 50 million kWh a year.
The power generated by the BIM solar power complex was transmitted to the grid for the first time in April 2019.
BIM solar power plant financing
Rizal Commercial Banking (RCBC) provided non-recourse financing of $232m as debt for the project. BIM Group and AC Energy, the energy platform of Ayala, arranged the remaining funding using their existing equity.
Power purchase agreements
BIM group signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with EVN, a state-owned company of Vietnam, for the sale of electricity generated at the BIM solar power plant complex, in the last quarter of 2018.
The solar power plant is also expected to meet the June 2019 solar feed-in tariff deadline set by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT).
Contractors involved
BIM Group initially awarded the engineering procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the solar power plant to Conergy Asia & ME, in January 2018.
The contract was, however, cancelled due to technical issues, following which Bouygues Energies & Services and JUWI were chosen as the new EPC contractors. The contractual scope includes the design, maintenance, and development of the solar plant.
Juwi, a German company, is responsible for the construction of the 50MW and 30MW facilities of the BIM solar power project under two engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts.
The project development was also supported by local contractors including PPC1, TOJI, Song Da 4, and Lilama 18.