UK's Coro Energy acquires 2.4 MW rooftop solar portfolio in Vietnam for $1.3 mln

Rooftop solar power projects in Vietnam have been attracting foreign investors with the UK's Coro Energy acquiring a 2.39 MW portfolio for $1.3 million the latest example.

Coro Energy's acquisition includes a $600,000 existing specialist renewable debt with a Vietnamese bank; $111,192 payable in cash, including $30,000 to meet firefighting regulations; $300,000 in installments; and others. Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur in the last quarter of 2023, the firm said in a release on Thursday.

The UK company made the acquisition from shareholders of Kimy Trading and Service JSC, a local firm. In November 2022, the portfolio featured four locations in Ho Chi Minh City with a capacity of 3.25 MW that had been operational for two years. After site visits and due diligence, one solar rooftop system was removed from the deal, taking the portfolio to 2.39 MW.

Kimy incurred a loss of about $195,000 in 2022, which included various cost of sales and administration expenditure, which will not be inherited by Coro Energy post-acquisition.

In late 2021, the British firm set up Coro Renewables Vietnam as an 85-15 joint venture with Vietnam’s Vinh Phuc Energy JSC. The partnership has a 150 MW portfolio of commercial and industrial rooftop solar projects in the country.

In September 2022, Coro Energy completed the commissioning of its Vietnam rooftop solar pilot project. The 3MW project, with more than 4,500 solar panels across four factory roofs in HCMC covering more than 16,000 square meters, now delivers electricity to Vietnamese textile company Phong Phu Corp.

Rooftop solar power projects in Vietnam have been attracting foreign investors. Last week, Singapore-headquartered TotalEnergies ENEOS signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a 3.4 MWp rooftop solar power system portfolio from Vietnam's Sao Mai Solar Company. The system is installed on the roof of the Asia Fish Oil (AFO) and International Development and Investment JSC factories in the Vam Cong Industrial Cluster, Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap.

In March, agribusinesses De Heus Vietnam and Bel Ga JSC signed agreements with Green Roof, a local rooftop solar power developer, to install rooftop solar power systems of up to 20 MWp at 30 facilities owned by the two agribusinesses in 19 cities and provinces across Vietnam.

In August 2022, French energy giant Total signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to generate solar power from rooftop systems installed in industrial properties developed by KCN Vietnam. The partnership is expected to put 280,000 square meters of solar panels on factory and warehouse roofs to generate and supply 51 GWh of electricity a year.