Story behind the solar plant:LONGi’s reliable delivery of products and services creates great value for Vietnam’s 50MW Thuan Nam Duc Long Solar Power Plant

Global News
2020.3.18

Located on the coastline of Nha Trang, Vietnam, the 50MW Thuan Nam Duc Long Solar Power Plant has adopted LONGi’s latest high power Hi-MO 4 modules, based on the new M6 monocrystalline wafer, and has already connected to the Vietnamese grid on December 27, 2019. LONGi signed an exclusive supply contract in September 2019 with the Ninh Thuna DLG Solar Power Joint Stock Company to supply 50MW of modules for the project.

Covering an area of 60 hectares, the Thuan Nam Duc Long Plant was constructed by the EPC Company VNECO and is expected to generate up to 80,000 MWh annually. According to a new report released by the Plant, from December 29, 2019 to January 8, 2020, the total electricity generated from the plant was 2672.5MWh, all of this being sold to Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Vietnam's state holding company. The total investment in the Plant is estimated to have reached US$50 million.

Chen Xing, a LONGi employee who joined the company in 2016, was assigned to work on site to ensure the successful delivery of all the modules in October 2019. This was a great challenge for him because he had never travelled overseas and doesn’t speak Vietnamese.

"We take LONGi modules wherever we go. Sometimes the project is in the Gobi desert, where we drive 400 kilometers a day by car, and sometimes the project is in the grasslands, where you can see the view of the blue sky and the wind blowing the meadow, cattle and sheep" said Chen. He has travelled over almost all of China during the 4 years he’s been working at LONGi.

As a LONGi on site delivery specialist, Chen is responsible for the on time arrival of each batch of modules and for guiding the construction team to avoid possible problems during installation at the project site. With proven experience, Chen had already predicted the potential difficulty with the delivery, due to the rainy weather in Southeast Asia, so he stayed at a farmhouse near the project site in case of possible problems. He communicated with the sales team and customer representative on site to gain a detailed understanding of the local infrastructure in the construction of the project.

Chen said: “The shipped modules were loaded into trucks in containers and then delivered from the port to the project site, with each truck able to transport up to 660 units inside 22 boxes." Although it's been some time, he still remembers the details of the delivery and installation processes. “To enter the project site, I had to go through a 5km long muddy track with a lot of potholes in the road surface. So I often followed the trucks and checked every module after unloading, counting the quantities every day, which was really impressive.”

“Due to torrential rain, there was a landslide at the project site. I went to the site immediately with the construction team and cooperated with the workers to reinforce and refit the brackets, which ensured the robustness and reliability of the project.” Chen recalled.

Chen was faced with two major problems in the construction process when the project started. The first was the difficulty in matching pressure blocks, bolts and modules when the large-size Hi-MO 4 modules were installed, with another being the site sampling of the delivered modules. Chen conducted careful calculation and analysis on the installation site, patiently guided the workers to install correctly, and then helped transport the sampled modules safely to the local testing center in Vietnam, successfully avoiding possible hidden cracks and other issues.

“Since joining LONGi, I have delivered nearly 2GW of modules to various solar projects. What we deliver each time is not only the modules, but also LONGi's commitment to the solar industry. As LONGi employees, we want to deliver reliable products and services, creating great value for our partners and customers worldwide.” Chen continued.

Vietnam is a key market for LONGi’s long-term overseas planning and development strategy,” Dennis She, Senior Vice President of LONGi Solar commented, “We appreciate the trust and support from DLG Solar. We will continue to provide high efficiency monocrystalline solar products with lower LCOE and affordable clean electricity for local enterprises and people based on the differentiated demands in Vietnam's solar market.”