- Can you share your journey in the renewable energy industry and how it led you to become the Chairman and CEO of SkyX Solar? What inspired you to focus on rooftop solar power development in the commercial and industrial segment?
I enjoy building and scaling up businesses. Drawing on my diverse and extensive global experience in diverse industries, investment funds, and ultra-high growth enterprises, I love to shape the vision of a company and help it to have a lasting growth through ruthless, quality execution, together with building and strengthening great teams.
My journey in the renewable energy industry in Vietnam is accidental. While leading the principal investments (private equity and new platforms development) at VinaCapital, the leading investment management group in Vietnam, my team and I studied the renewable energy sector in Vietnam extensively (solar farms, wind farms, hydro, LNG, rooftop solar etc), we realized that there is an opportunity to build out a world class renewable energy company for the C&I (commercial and industrial) sector in Vietnam. And we are very suited to build this out as it requires a techno-commercial mindset and skill sets, with deep sector and country knowledge, access and insights and ability to raise long term capital.
However, the rooftop solar power segment presents significant potential, particularly in Vietnam, known as the new world’s factory. In 2018, there were over 300 industrial parks with numerous “idle” roofs. I can foresee substantial benefits in rooftop solar power development for industries, focusing on self-consumption. Therefore, we took a bold step and setup SkyX Solar in 2019, for the C&I segment and by god’s grace, lot of hard work and luck, with all humility, we are now amongst the leading companies in this space in the region.
- In the rapidly evolving renewable energy landscape, what recent trends have you observed in the rooftop solar power sector, particularly in the commercial and industrial segment? Are there any noteworthy technological or market developments that have caught your attention?
This sector is, yes, swiftly evolving in Vietnam, both on the regulatory and technological aspects.
There are, I have observed several notable trends in the rooftop solar power sector, particularly within the commercial and industrial segment. Here are some key developments:
- Regulatory: solar capacity addition in Vietnam can be attributed to several factors, including favorable policy frameworks, attractive financial incentives, and declining technology costs. Governments have introduced feed-in tariffs and other supporting incentives in the past to encourage investment. In addition, the cost of solar technology has declined significantly, making solar power more competitive compared to traditional energy sources. However, over the last 2 years there has been significant on-the-ground challenges especially because of the regulatory environment at the central level, which we believe is being resolved and clarified currently.
- Technological Advancements: the cost of solar power production has decreased significantly, making it commercially attractive without needing Government subsidies. Ongoing technological innovations, such as enhancements in solar panel efficiencies has played a crucial role in driving the expansion of the rooftop solar power sector.
In a distributed solar power systems like ours, remote monitoring system and good quality O&M is key. This includes the integration of smart technologies to optimize energy consumption, enhance efficiency, and provide real-time monitoring and control capabilities, which at SkyX Solar, has been our focus, which helps us run our more than 40 power plants efficiently.
- Capital Raising: since this is a capital-intensive business, the ability to raise long term capital, which is driven by strong commercials, bankable contracts- power purchase agreements (PPAs), EPC agreements, O&M Agreements etc, strong risk management practices, including HSE (health, Safety, Environment), is key for growth.
- Developing solar projects often comes with challenges. Could you discuss some of the key challenges SkyX Solar has faced in the C&I sector and how the company has overcome or navigated them? Are there any unique solutions or strategies that have proven successful in addressing these challenges?
One of the significant challenges is the clear nationwide guidelines on the regulatory and licensing from different provinces in Vietnam follow slightly different approaches because of it, which makes on-the-ground execution more time consuming and challenging.
Recognizing this challenge, the government we understand is taking steps to expedite licensing applications and standardize the process across the country. And we also closely collaborate with central and provincial agencies for keeping on track with new regulations.
- With a focus on the commercial and industrial segment, how does SkyX Solar contribute to the broader sustainability goals of its clients? Can you share examples of projects that have had a significant positive impact on both the environment and the businesses adopting solar power solutions?
SkyX Solar, together with VinaCapital and EDF Renewables, both of which have multiple wind farms under development, we are dedicated to assisting companies in achieving the objectives of 100% renewable energy consumption and a net-zero status. This is achieved by offering a range of solutions, including rooftop solar systems, renewable energy certificates (RECs), battery energy storage systems (BESS) and direct power purchase agreements (DPPAs) whenever regulations permit.
Thus far, SkyX Solar operates more than 100 MW of rooftop solar projects across 40+ sites in Vietnam. Our clients include renowned names such as Mondelez, An Phat, Nike OEM, New Balance OEM, Tan A Dai Thanh Group, Minh Phu Group…etc., We are at the forefront of revolutionizing the energy landscape, offering clients zero-hassle, zero-capex, and zero-opex energy solutions. Within SkyX Solar’s rooftop solar systems, clients not only save millions of dollars on their electricity bills but also make a significant contribution to reducing their carbon footprint.
For example, Mondelez which is the global giant in food and beverage sector. We are operating more than 2MWp of rooftop solar systems for them in the North. With our system, they reduce nearly 3,000 tonnes of CO2 emission per year and save more than 11 million USD over the system life. But most important is that they have a stable generation power source for their production.
