Nov 18 2010
Suntech Power Holdings will provide 9.43 MW of solar panels and necessary technical support for the second stage of the 44 MW solar power plant owned by Bangchak Petroleum in Thailand.
The solar power integration for the plant will be performed by Solartron. The present contract for 9.43 MW is in sequence to an earlier contract signed by the company for supplying 34.5 MW solar panels and the required technical support.
The project situated in Bang Pa-In, Ayutthaya, a place located forty kilometers outside Bangkok, will be funded under the Asian Development Bank’s Asia Solar Energy Initiative. The company has entered into a 15 year loan accord with the bank for a loan of around US$140 million. The ground work construction for the project is expected to commence shortly and this 44 MW solar project is anticipated to generate power and get connected to the grid by the end of 2011. The energy generated from the project will be bought and distributed by the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) under long term power purchase agreements. The project is expected to generate over 200 local jobs in the areas such as installation, development and maintenance.
The 44 MW project when completed will reduce the requirement of importing over 40,000 tons of coal, and reduce 32,000 tons carbon dioxide discharges every year which can be equated to planting 3,000,000 new trees and taking out 9,000 cars off the road.