Siemens, a Germany-based supplier of transmission, distribution and smart grid solutions, has won a contract with Trung Nam Group to supply equipment for Vietnam’s largest solar park in operation.

Under the contract, Siemens will provide inverters, power and distribution transformers, gas-insulated medium voltage switchgears, circuit-breakers, and a monitoring and control system for the 258 MWp solar project.

This is the first solar project for the German company in southeast Asia. All its transformers will have a digital interface and the entire project will create a Electrical Balance of Plant (eBoP) solution. It will also include the electrical engineering parts needed to build a photovoltaic plant.

“We are proud to be able to offer the best solution that will play a vital role in supporting the energy transformation in Vietnam,” said Stephan May, CEO of the Medium Voltage and Systems Business Unit at Siemens.

The solar project is located in the southern province of Ninh Tuan and expected to be complete by mid-2019. The solar panels will generate a combined DC voltage of 1,500 V, inverters will convert the DC to 660 V AC, and transformers will first step this up to 33 kV and later to 220 kV. Finally, it will be fed into to the high voltage grid and distributed across the country.

Nguyen Tam Tien, General Director at Trung Nam Group said, “Vietnam’s need for energy is rapidly growing. The government is aiming at developing 18 GW of generating capacity by 2030. Siemens is supporting us with our solar project so we can reach the government targets for developing renewable energy in Vietnam.”

Siemens has designed “plug-and-play MV station” up to the 33 kV level so that it can be installed as a standalone unit within reasonable cost. The project is expected to generate up to 425 GWh per year. It can supply 200,000 households with electricity and saves around 250,000 tons of CO₂.

In December 2017, Siemens had announced that it would manufacture Sinacon PV inverters in Kalwa plant near Mumbai for Indian market as well as for export.

Image credit: Flickr

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer