Kejuruteraan Asastera enters renewable energy market in Vietnam

ELECTRICAL and mechanical engineering service provider Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd (KAB) is set to explore the Vietnamese renewable energy market following the inking of a collaboration agreement with Janakuasa Pte Ltd via its wholly owned subsidiary KAB Energy Power Sdn Bhd.

Under the collaboration agreement, a special purpose vehicle will be formed to acquire the majority stakes in three hydropower plant projects located in Vietnam with an aggregate installed capacity of 180-megawatt (MW) of power.

The projects have existing power purchase agreements (PPA) with state-owned utility company Vietnam Electricity which will expire between January 2030 and 2039. They have commenced commercial operations between 2015 and 2019.

Janakuasa, a private energy developer company based in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, is currently developing two notable power plants with strong partners, namely a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant in Duyen Hai 2 and a wind power plant with a capacity of 78MW in Hiep Thanh, both located in Vietnam.

Janakuasa which has a proven 30-year track record in the power sector has over 1,000MW of thermal and green power projects under construction in Vietnam.

“We are proud to be given an opportunity to form a synergistic partnership with Janakuasa as we are able to leverage their experience and know-hows,” commented KAB’s managing director Datuk Lai Keng Onn.

“Concurrently, with the huge growing demand for electricity in Vietnam, we are confident that our first foray into the Vietnamese market will be successful.”

For the record, Janakuasa has been developing power projects in Vietnam to promote economic development in the region as well as to support the growth of renewable energy in the country.

“Given that Vietnam is ASEAN’s rising star with the most promising economic growth and growing population, demand for energy has increased exponentially,” Janakuasa’s chairman Ti Chee Liang pointed out.

Study has shown that Vietnam is one of the most successful ASEAN countries in promoting various types of renewable energy to sustain its energy development and protect its environment with a target to raise the reliance on renewable energy from 0.5% in 2016 to 25% by 2030.

KAB has recently entered into Thailand’s solar energy market by securing four new solar projects with an aggregate installed capacity of 3,912-kilowatt peak solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. In total, KAB now has 5,492-kilowatt peak installed capacity of solar PV systems.

At the close of today’s morning trading session, KAB was down 0.5 sen or 0.72% to 69 sen with 177,200 shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM1.17 bil. – June 23, 2021

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