SN Power to act acquire Vietnam hydropower assets

SN Power, a Norwegian government-controlled renewable energy developer, is aiming to become an industrial investor in Vietnam within the next two years by targetting local hydropower assets.

“As the power sector is being reformed and deregulated, SN Power plans to leverage on its success in the Philippines and other markets to play a similar pivotal role in Vietnam’s power market,” said Nguyen Thanh Tan, country representative of SN Power.

Besides targeting plants owned by state-run Electricity of Vietnam, SN Power wants to acquire stakes in non-EVN power plants.

“When an operational footprint in Vietnam is achieved, we are likely to ask for permission to build new hydropower projects here,” he said.

Tan noted that SN Power might cooperate with Vietnam-based financial institutions and foreign financial organisations like the World Bank’s financial arm IFC to secure financial packages to penetrate into the Vietnamese power market.
SN Power opened a representative office in Hanoi in April, 2010.

“First phase activities will be to look at acquisition prospects whilst greenfield opportunities will be looked
into once local presence has been secured,” the firm said on its website.

“Though Vietnam’s hydropower planning already includes several local projects, we are positive that we will find projects attractive to us, as Vietnam’s power market will develop substantially in the coming years,” he added.