The first sod has been turned on the construction of Vietnam’s largest solar power project, which is worth about VND5 trillion (US$218 million), in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan.

The provincial People’s Committee and Trung Nam Solar Power JSC, a subsidiary of Trung Nam Group, organized the groundbreaking ceremony in Thuan Bac District, Ninh Thuan, on Saturday morning.

At a cost of approximately VND5 trillion, the solar power plant covers an area of 264 hectares within the Trung Nam wind farm in Bac Phong and Loi Hai Communes.

The plant is designed with the capacity of 204 megawatts.

More than 700,000 solar panels will be installed in the plant, whose angle can be automatically adjusted to maximize its potential.

Upon its planned completion in 2019, the facility is expected to produce a maximum of 450 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which will supply Ninh Thuan and other provinces across the country.

This is the largest solar power project in Vietnam so far, Phung Quoc Hien, vice-chairman of the National Assembly, remarked at the ceremony.

On July 3, the Electric Power Trading Company (EPTC) under the Vietnam Electricity (EVN) signed a power purchase agreement with the Trung Nam Solar Power JSC.

Under the agreement, EPTC will purchase electricity produced by the project at VND2,086 (9.35 U.S. cents) per kilowatt-hour.

According to the Ninh Thuan administration, the province has set goals to develop 2,000 megawatts of solar power by 2020.

A total of 11 projects have been initiated with the combined capacity of about 800 megawatts.

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