Suntech bags supply deal for Thailand power plant

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd was chosen as the supplier of 34.5MW of solar panels for the first phase of a 44MW (38MW AC output capacity) solar power plant located just outside Bangkok, Thailand.

Planned as the largest solar power plant in Southeast Asia, the power plant is owned and operated by Bangchak Petroleum Public Co. Ltd and integrated by Solartron Public Co. Ltd and is expected to supply the electricity to the metropolis and surrounding areas.

Scheduled for completion in late 2011, the solar power plant is part of the government's plan to source 20 percent of the country's 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 percent increase between 2005 and 2030. Also, Solarbuzz reports that Asia's solar market grew to nearly 900MW in 2009 despite the global recession, up from about 630MW in 2008.

''Strong economic growth witnessed in markets like China and Thailand would not be possible without reliable access to electricity,'' said Zhengrong Shi, founder, chairman and CEO, Suntech. ''The reality is that fossil fuels alone are unable to provide long-term energy security to meet the soaring demands of Asia's rising populations. Now is the time to rediscover nature's cleanest and most abundant energy resource.''