Vietnam industrial major Gelex to sell 49 MW hydropower project to Singapore’s Sembcorp

Vietnamese industrial major Gelex Group is completing procedures to sell the 49-MW Song Bung 4A hydropower project to Singaporean giant Sembcorp, the former said in its review for the second quarter of this year.

Gelex, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as GEX, said it had already sold three renewable energy projects to Sembcorp, totaling 196 MW. They are the Huong Phung wind power project, Gelex Quang Tri wind power project, and Gelex Ninh Thuan solar power project.

Gelex acquired Song Bung 4A project in 2017 from Phu Thanh My JSC.

Regarding the deal, in June, Sembcorp said the acquisition of 196 MW was completed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Sembcorp Solar Vietnam Pte Ltd. The move was part of its plan to add 245 MW to its portfolio in Vietnam. Last November, Sembcorp noted it would spend a maximum of SGD218 million ($160.3 million) on the acquisition.

Once the whole acquisition is completed, Sembcorp will increase its gross renewable energy capacity in Vietnam to 455 MW and its overall figure to 14.4 GW.

In the first half of 2024, Gelex made a post-tax profit of VND1,357.2 billion ($53.7 million) on a net revenue of VND14,910.5 billion, up 97.8% and 3.5% year-on-year, respectively, according to Gelex’s report.

Gelex also highlighted a long-term deferred revenue of VND210.8 billion ($8.6 million) from Sembcorp Solar Vietnam Pte Ltd as of June 30, versus zero as of January 1.

In December 2023, the Government Inspectorate announced violations in the implementation of the country's Power Development Plan VII (PDP VII). The Government Inspectorate detected violations by state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (ERAV) in signing a power purchase contract with Phu Thanh My, as the power prices were above the regulated figure in 2015. In 2022, EVN and Phu Thanh My signed a new deal with updated prices meeting the regulations.