What is being billed as one of the world's largest solar power plants is about to start construction in Thailand, with support from suppliers Sharp and Mitsubishi.
The 73MW project in Lop Buri Province (north of Bangkok) is expected to get under way by the end of July and begin operation by 2011, overseen by the country's largest construction company, Italian-Thai Development Public Co. It is a ¥22billion (about US $250m) joint project between Mitsubishi subsidiary Natural Energy Development Co. (NED), Hong Kong-based power company CLP Holdings Ltd, and Electricity Generating Public Co. NED will actually build the plant and sell electrity for a 25-year period to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
The plant will be based on more than 540 000 high-grade, thin-film solar panels mounted on fixed frames. The power supply generated by the plant is expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 1.3 million tonnes over its projected 25-year operation. Sharp will supply the solar cell modules (thin-film a-Si) from its plant in Sakai, Japan. The company will facilitate many aspects of the project from equipment procurement to system design and plant construction. The solar farm is part of a plan by the government to have up to 20% of Thailand's total electricity demand coming from renewable energy by 2022.
Sharp will also contribute a business model for the power plant but will collaborate with ITD/ITE for the design and construction.
Mott MacDonald, Independent Engineer for the solar farm, reports that the undertaking achieved financial close in early July. Mott MacDonald successfully supported project financing by a group of lenders comprising the Asian Development Bank and Thai Commercial banks including Kasikorn Bank, Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank.
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