Uper Energy Zhang Chengfei: Rapid PV Market Development in SE Asia Highlights Value of Professional O&M Services

The two-day 4th Annual ASEAN Solar + Energy Storage Congress & Expo 2019 was held in Manila, Philippines on November 14. Uper Energy was invited to attend the congress, at which its International Business Development Director Zhang Chengfei led an in-depth round table discussion with guests on the development opportunities for renewable energy in Southeast Asia.

As a rapidly growing market, the installation capacity of PV in Southeast Asia is expected to reach 12.6 GW this year and nearly triple to 35.8GW in 2024. Large photovoltaic projects are expected to dominate the market over the next five years. Mr. Zhang noted that the reasons behind the rapid development of the Southeast Asian market in recent years are the huge renewable energy potential, favorable policies and rapid economic growth.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has set as a target a goal that 23% of the Total Primary Energy Supply comes from renewable sources by the year 2025. Mr. Zhang said based on the current market situation, the target can be achieved, but is still subject to continuous improvement of power generation efficiency and a decrease in curtailment rates of wind power and PV systems. Taking the many floating solar power stations built across Southeast Asia as an example, the lack of professional technical personnel in the operation and management of power stations risks leading to inefficient power generation and unsafe power station assets, and, in a worst-case scenario, could even result in serious casualties. Through its proprietary UniCare operation and maintenance (O&M) platform, Uper Energy has established a standardized O&M and risk management system tailored for floating power stations, which can undertake comprehensive and integrated management of power stations, better achieve planned prevention and rapid response of O&M for power stations, improve operational efficiency and assure an enhanced ROI, delivering intelligent O&M of PV power stations.

The Annual ASEAN Solar + Energy Storage Congress & Expo 2019 is supported by more than 20 authorities across ASEAN, including the Philippines' Department of Energy, Lao's Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Tenaga Nasional Berhad of Malaysia, Ministry of Power of India, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Asian Development Bank, among others. The congress aims to explore the huge market potential of solar + energy storage in Southeast Asia, helping renewable companies better understand the renewable energy market in the region and identifying key challenges in the market.