Singapore headquartered solar power company Sunseap Group has raised $85.8 million loan as green financing from Singapore's DBS Bank and United Overseas Bank (UOB) to finance 70 MW solar power capacity in Singapore that it says is the 'largest' clean energy project in the country to date.
Claiming to have over 2 GW solar energy projects in its portfolio across Asia, Sunseap won the contract to set up 70 MW solar capacity as part of the SolarNova 4 auction concluded by Singapore's Housing & Development Board (HDB) and the Economic Development Board (EDB) in October 2019 (see Sunseap Bags 70 MW Rooftop Solar Contract In Singapore).
Excess energy generated by the 70 MW capacity will be fed into the grid by Sunseap, and renewable energy credits (REC) from this will be sold by Sunseap to social media giant Facebook under a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA). "The solar energy generated will support the tech company's operations in Singapore, including Facebook's first custom-built data centre in Asia," said Shell backed Sunseap.
This 70 MW capacity will be set up for more than 1,200 public housing blocks and 49 government sites; installation work is already underway. It is designed to generate 96,775 MWh annually which would be enough to power 20,400 public housing 4-room flats and offset more than 68,583 tons of carbon emissions annually.
Under SolarNova program, HDB aims to install 540 MW solar by 2030 as the country works towards bringing down its peak carbon emissions by half by 2030 under Singapore Green Plan 2030 and achieve net zero emissions in the 2nd half of the century.
The country is also looking forward to a massive solar and storage project planned by Sun Cable in Australia's Darwin through which solar power will be exported to the Asian nation and expected to account for 15% of its electricity consumption (see More Partners For Sun Cable's AAPowerLink).