Suntech receives order to equip Southeast Asia's largest solar power plant

Bangkok, Thailand and Wuxi, China - Suntech Power Holdings Co, a producer of crystalline silicon solar panels, has been selected to supply 34.5 MW of solar panels for the first phase of the largest solar power plant in Thailand and Southeast Asia.

Owned and operated by Bangchak Petroleum Public and integrated by Solartron Public Co. the planned 44MW (38MW AC output capacity) solar power plant will be located just outside of Bangkok. Upon completion in late 2011, the solar power plant shall represent a major milestone in Thailand's goal to source 20% of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2022.

In a November 2009 report, the Asian Development Bank projected that energy demand in Asia and the Pacific will grow by an estimated 2.4 percent annually for the next twenty years, a cumulative 80% increase between 2005 and 2030. Suntech believes that solar technology will account for a rapidly growing share of Asia's electricity generation capacity, as economies throughout the region embrace affordable alternatives to carbon-based energy production. According to Solarbuzz research, Asia's solar market grew to nearly 900MW in 2009 - despite the global recession - up from about 630MW in 2008.

Source: IWR Online, 05 Aug 2010