Vietnam: US First Solar resumes long-delayed $1.2 billion project

Vietnam: US First Solar resumes long-delayed $1.2 billion project

After years of failing looking for suitable investors to take its place and
carry out the $1.2-billion project in Ho Chi Minh City, First Solar (US) has
decided to resume the solar panel manufacturing project.

Late last year, in a conference call with investors and industry analysts to
discuss the firm's 2017 operations, chief executive officer Mark Widmar
revealed that they could even look to use the plant in Vietnam that was
built but has not yet put into operation.The information has been confirmed
by the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Management
Authority (HEPZA).

The project was licensed in January 2011 and started construction two months
later. At the time, the investor said the facility's $300-million first
phase, with a production capacity equivalent to 250 megawatt per year, would
start operations in late 2012.

According to plans, the total investment in the project would eventually
reach $1.2 billion. It would be the first solar panel manufacturing facility
in Vietnam employing advanced thin-membrane technology.

However, just eight months after the construction was kicked-off, the
investor announced the decision to postpone the project.

In 2012, First Solar Group announced plans to sell its factory and leave
Vietnam. In February 2012, the American company completed the evaluation and
approved a set of initiatives, including increasing manufacturing capacity,
primarily intended to adjust its previously planned expansions and global
manufacturing footprint.

The US energy group reportedly appointed Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, a real
estate consultancy firm, to sell parts or the whole workshop. However, this
still cannot be done due to unfinished legal procedures.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.energycentral.com/news/us-first-solar-resumes-long-delayed-12-bil
lion-project?utm_medium=eNL&utm_campaign=DAILY_NEWS&utm_content=&utm_source=
2017_07_24

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com