Grid-Parity Rooftop Solar Project (ADB-49087-001)

Countries
  • Thailand
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 2, 2016
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Thai-Sunseap Asset Company Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 43.56 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 43.56 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 116.15 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ ADB website

Updated in EWS Jun 25, 2020

Disclosed by Bank Aug 24, 2017

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the bank website, The project involves the rollout and operation of multiple solar photovoltaic installations, each with a capacity ranging from 400 kilowatts-peak (kWp) to 10 megawatts-peak (MWp), on rooftops or elsewhere on the premises of commercial and/or industrial buildings owned or leased by host companies in Thailand up to an aggregate capacity of 100 MW and will be installed at no up-front cost to the host companies. The project will enter into long-term power purchase agreements directly with the host companies. Electricity will be sold at a discount to the price of electricity purchased from the fossil fuel-dominated national grid, thereby achieving solar power production at parity with the grid. The project aims to demonstrate the viability of nonsubsidized solar power in Thailand, as it will not be relying on the Thai feed-in tariff (FIT) regime.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

According to ADB, Thai-Sunseap Asset Company Limited, a special purpose project company 55% owned by Weng Holding, Sombath Phanichewa and his immediate family members and 45% by Sunseap Group. The Thai-Sunseap Asset Company Limited in turn owns 100% of subprojects up to an aggregate capacity of 100MW.

Weng Holding is a privately held company that is part of an industrial conglomerate (the Weng Group), which is a leading glass industry supplier in Thailand and operates a varied number of additional businesses including manufacturing of glass blocks and chemically-strengthened glass, Nissan automobile dealerships and various real estate and hotel investments throughout Thailand. The Weng Group also holds significant minority shareholdings in numerous companies in Thailand, including Siam City Insurance, Kiarti Thanee Country Club, Thai Public Port, and C on Top (8MW solar farm in Chonburi).

Sunseap Group is a leading developer and largest owner of rooftop solar PV systems in Singapore with more than 163 MWp of contracted capacity. It has won five out of six solar tenders called by the Singapore government to date which amounts to a total capacity of 133 MWp to install PV panels on the roofs of a number of public housing (HDB) and other government properties. The current commissioned capacity is more than 60 MWp (as of 1H 2016) which is scheduled to reach 86 MWp by the end of FY2016 as the rooftop projects are being implemented in phases. Sunseap Group is currently owned by two founders (Frank Phuan and Lawrence Wu) and other minority shareholders including individuals and venture capitals.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Sunseap Group Parent Company -
- - - - Thai-Sunseap Asset Company Limited Client -
- - - - Weng Holding Company Limited Parent Company -

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Responsible ADB Department Private Sector Operations Department
Responsible ADB Division Infrastructure Finance Division 2
Responsible ADB Officer Hong, Won Myong

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF ADB

The Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an Asian Development Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism, they may investigate to assess whether the Asian Development Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can learn more about the Accountability Mechanism and how to file a complaint at: http://www.adb.org/site/accountability-mechanism/main

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How it works