The EDF group’s activities in Southeast and Southern Asia are focused on the development of the electricity sector, particularly through projects for the design, construction and operation of new thermal gas and hydraulic generation plants in countries offering Independent Power Plant (IPP) type opportunities, as well as in the field of renewable energies, nuclear, smart cities, microgrids and innovation.
At 31 December 2020, EDF owned 56.25% of Mekong Energy Company Ltd.(MECO), the company owning Phu My 2.2, a combined cycle gas power plant with a capacity of 715MW. The other shareholders are TEPCO (JERA) and SGM2 (Sumitomo). This is the first IPP project financed exclusively by foreign investors inVietnam. The BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) contract has a term of 20 years. In 2005,EDF provided “turnkey” delivery of the power plant, and operations are now managed by MECO.
Once built, the high-efficiency and environmentally-optimised CCGT Son My1 plant with a capacity of 2,250MW in Binh Thuan province, situated north-east of Saigon will be operated for a period of 20 years. It forms part of Vietnam’s efforts to diversify its sources of energy and will help satisfy the country’s growing hunger for electricity while reducing the share of coal in its energy mix in favour of gas and renewable energy. The EDF group was chosen to head the consortium tasked with studying the project alongside local partner Pacific Corporation and Japanese partners Sojitz Corporation and Kyushu Electric Power Co. with stakes of 37.5%, 25%, 18.75% and 18.75% respectively. A memorandum of understanding setting out the general terms of the project was signed with Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) on 2 November 2018. The working schedule for 2021 will consist in obtaining final approval for this feasibility study from MOIT and moving forward in the negotiation of a concession agreement and other contractual documents required for commissioning of the first unit by the end of 2025.
At 31 December 2020, the EDF group held, via EDF Invest, a 40% stake in Nam Theun 2 Power Company (NTPC), which owns the hydropower complex Nam Theun 2 with an installed capacity of 1,070MW, built by the EDF group under a “turnkey”contract, commissioned in 2010. The other shareholders are a Thai company, EGCO(Electricity Generating Public Company Limited), which holds 35%, and a Lao State company, LHSE (Lao Holding State Enterprise), which holds 25%. NTPC operates the power plant on a 25-year concession agreement concluded with the government of Laos.
2020 business focused on the operational management of installations (first major overhaul since commissioning), in a difficult hydrological year in Laos, whilst also continuing with social and environmental support missions in the region of Nam Theun (the Nakai Nam Theun National Park was accepted as candidate to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas).
A project to develop a floating solar wind farm with a capacity of 240MWp on the Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric dam was launched in 2019 and formalised by the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lao government in July 2019 and then with our partners in June 2020. This project forms part of the Lao government’s strategy to diversify its energy mix.
In the field of nuclear energy, for details of the cooperation agreement for the project to construct six EPR reactors in Jaitapur, see section 1.4.1.1.3.2 “Other New Nuclear projects”.
EDF continued developing its smart meters and smart grid business. After winning a contract in 2016 to supply 75,000 smart meters to the New Delhi MunicipalityCouncil, in the fall of 2018 the Group won a call for tenders issued by Energy EfficientServices Limited (EESL), an Indian energy services company (ESCO), to install nearly 5 million smart meters in five Indian states, under the French-Indian CooperationPlan. The EESL3 project was officially launched on 14 March 2019. The test phase and the implementation of the integrated IT infrastructure were completed in 2020;
the massive deployment phase is underway. The EDF International Networks subsidiary, established in India since 2019, is coordinating the implementation of the project.
The first edition of EDF Pulse was launched in Asia, targeting young Indian companies for its first edition, and was very successful, attracting a large number of entries. The awards ceremony with the grand jury was held in November 2020, with awards going to the most promising entries in the three challenges: sustainable smart lifestyles, resilient smart infrastructures, and electric mobility infrastructures.
EDF Renewables continued growing its solar and wind power businesses in India, the latter established in 2016 (see section 1.4.1.3.3 “EDF Renewables activities”).
The Citelum subsidiary also has operations in India, where it manages a network of lights in the City of Ahmedabad, with which it has renewed its street lighting works and maintenance contract for 5 years. Citelum signed a service contract with EDF IN for the installation of 500,000 smart meters and for the maintenance of 2,500,000 meters for a 7-year period. The subsidiary also won the contract for the installation and maintenance of equipment supplier Suveg Electronics’ street lighting control equipment, covering 14,200 lights.
The Shweli 3 project to develop a hydroelectric dam on the river Shweli in Shan state, North-East Myanmar, achieved further milestones in 2020. The project relates to the construction and 20-year operation of a 671MW hydroelectric dam. The EDF group has been appointed lead contractor of the consortium (with a 32.5% stake),responsible for developing the project alongside two private-sector partners, one from Myanmar (Birman Ayeyar Hinthar Holdings Co. Ltd., 10%) plus a Japanese partner (Marubeni Corporation, 32.5%), together with the Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE, 25%), a Burmese state entity.
The dam is subject to the same strict standards observed by the Group in all its projects in terms of corporate and environmental responsibility. It will supply responsibly-sourced, low-carbon electricity to a country in dire need of power for economic development where nearly 50% of the population currently has no access to electricity.
In addition, EDF is pursuing its development in the field of microgrids in Myanmar, aimed at the development of hybrid microgrids (solar and battery) in several remote villages. In 2020, a pilot was constructed and operationalised in the Magway Region(Myanmar), in collaboration with our partners InfraCo Asie and Solarisesys. See also section 3.6.9 “Summary of EDF group’s vigilance plan”.
The EDF group is continuing its development strategy in Indonesia, favouring renewable energy projects and accelerating access to electricity for the country’s remotest island locations, with the development of microgrids.
Following an agreement signed in June 2013 with the Singapore Housing andDevelopment Board, the city’s largest construction firm, with the aim of developing an innovative urban modelling tool, the EDF group, in 2014, opened a centre of excellence for sustainable cities in Asia: EDF Lab Singapore Pte. Ltd. This R&D centre dedicated to urban planning has as its mission to reinforce existing collaboration and to initiate new collaborative relationships with Singapore and other cities of the region.
In October 2018, Nanyang Technical University, EDF, and Enedis inaugurated the Microgrid for Affordable and Sustainable Electricity in Remote Areas (MASERA) demonstrator as part of Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) and the France-Singapore Year of Innovation 2018. The operationalisation of the demonstrator in 2019 and robust related experience enabled the Lab to sign its first service contracts in 2020. The Group is now well-established in Singapore to better manage its interests in Southeast Asia, strengthen its synergies with the R&D lab, and embed itself in the development and innovation ecosystem of smart cities, particularly vibrant in Singapore. The EDF team had its first success in May 2020, when along with two other providers, it was awarded a service contract for technical, commercial, and legal consultancy for an electricity importation project by the EMA (EnergyManagement Authority). This initial success opens up the way for further opportunities in Singapore.
(1) EDF is paying close attention to political developments in the wake of the coup on 1 February 2021, and may review its projects currently under development in Myanmar.
