Chinese solar manufacturer Phono Solar and Symbior Energy, a Hong Kong-based renewable energy company, have signed a strategic cooperation to jointly develop a 40MW solar project in Thailand.
Under the terms of the agreement, both companies will jointly develop, fund and construct the PV facility.
The project will be implemented in several phases, each of which will involve developing 8MW of PV capacity.
Phono Solar is keen to grow its presence in key emerging markets including South America. The company believes this latest co-operation with Symbior Energy is a further step towards its strategy to enter new markets and will also strengthen its presence in the Asia Pacific region.
Jibo Cai, President of Phono Solar, said: “As a co-investor and module supplier, we hope to open this project to the gateway to the Thai market for renewable energy and at the same time continue the development of the Asia-Pacific market ''.
Thailand has seen a surge in interest in the past year and is quickly becoming a solar hot spot in Southeast Asia. With a target to install 1GW of PV capacity by 2020 under the country’s Alternative Energy Development Plan (2008-2022), Thailand has become one of the first in the region to offer a feed-in tariff, also referred to as “Adder”.
Initially, the programme had a cap of 500MW but this was raised to 2GW at the start of 2012. According to European Commission figures, in June 2012 around 500-600MW of PV projects were in the development phase.
