JERA Inc., a power generation company of Japan, has signed a deal to buy a 35.1 per cent stake at Viet Nam’s Gia Lai Electricity Joint Stock Company (GEC) to tap the Southeast Asian nation's growing demand for electricity and further its own decarbonisation efforts, Nikkei Asia reported.

JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, will invest 15 billion JPY (US$112 million) in the Vietnamese renewable energy company.

The purchase comes as JERA aims to increase its renewables generation capacity to 5,000 MW by 2025. The stake in GEC will add 190 MW, bringing the company's total renewables capacity to 1,900 MW. JERA will also consider jointly developing solar and onshore wind projects with GEC.

JERA has already participated in renewable energy projects across Asia, including India and Thailand. It has operated a gas-fired power plant in Viet Nam since 2005.

GEC owns hydro, solar and wind power plants with a total generation capacity of about 600 MW. It looks to raise this to 1,700 MW by 2025, according to JERA. — VNS