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SN Power, IFC to develop 1GW of hydro power in Vietnam
09.07.10Global hydro firm SN Power and World Bank member International Finance Corporation (IFC) have entered into an agreement to develop up to 1GW of hydro power capacity in Vietnam over a ten-year period.
The Joint Development Agreement was signed in Washington between Bernard Sheahan, IFC director for infrastructure and Erik Knive, SN Power executive vice president in Southeast Asia.
The partnership will look into developing selected hydro power projects with each plant size in the range of 100MW to 500MW - this could give an estimated investment figure of $2bn over the ten-year period, Knive tells Recharge. “This IFC partnership will allow SN Power to achieve synergy in terms of finding viable hydropower projects and subsequently develop and operate them in a sustainable manner,” Knive says.
The partnership will allow IFC, acting through IFC InfraVentures, an early stage project development fund, and SN Power to develop an investment strategy, policy and guidelines to address Vietnam’s growing demand for power.
Electricity supply in Vietnam has not been able to meet growing demand as the country’s economy matures swiftly in recent years.
The Asian state faces sporadic blackouts which pose a threat to future growth and hasten the need for more reliable power.
This is IFC and SN Power’s first partnership in Vietnam. The two organisations have previously collaborated on several of SN Power’s worldwide investments in wind and hydropower plants in Chile, India and the Philippines.
Norway-based SN Power taps on IFC’s social and environmental performance standards for conducting due diligence of acquisition and greenfield power projects.
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