German companies Melchers (Viet Nam), Aschoff Solar Ltd and a financial institution are engineering, implementing and financing solar rooftop modules at a 30ha beachfront resort Alma in Cam Ranh Bay, in the coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

This year, Alma will install 5,634 solar panels totalling 12,500sq.m on the roofs of its buildings and facilities. With a capacity of 2480kW, the solar power system will fuel between a quarter to a half of Alma’s energy needs, depending on occupancy dictated by the low and high seasons.

It's estimated the system will save the resort up to nearly VND391 billion (US$16.9million) in electricity bills and also reduce Alma's carbon dioxide emissions by up to 72,670 tonnes over a 25-year period.

With hundreds of solar projects under construction in Viet Nam, which has recently overtaken Thailand as Southeast Asia’s largest solar market, Alma’s managing director Herbert Laubichler-Pichler believes it’ll soon be incumbent for five-star resorts across the country to introduce solar power systems, to lessen their carbon footprints.

“With the weather we have in Cam Ranh, it makes sense for us to take advantage of an abundance of sunlight and embrace a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly alternative to electricity,” said Laubichler-Pichler.

This most ambitious hotel solar power project yet will open opportunities to cooperate between German enterprises and other resorts in Viet Nam, as Melchers Company is working with partners in Ha Noi and HCM City. — VNS