Looking for a way to further stamp its mark in one of South East Asia’s growing solar markets, First Solar has established a subsidiary in Thailand called First Solar (Thailand). The company has also set up an office in the country’s capital city Bangkok.
Through the new subsidiary, First Solar believes that it will be able to better execute its plans to further penetrate the local utility market. Specifically, it is seeking to scale solar PV plants in the market and to deliver value to Thai solar power producers.
“The long-term energy fundamentals in Thailand are very favorable for a solar power solution to meet their growing energy needs, and we will continue to invest here as part of our strategy to develop sustainable, utility scale solar markets,” said Won Park, senior manager of business development at First Solar.
First Solar has recognized Thailand as an important solar market in South East Asia and it expects the market to continue to grow, spurred by its strong economic growth, significant energy demand and abundant solar resources. The company first entered the Thai market in 2011 and has since added more than 12MW of PV projects. These projects have already been installed or are under construction using the company’s advanced thin-film module technology.
First Solar has not been the only solar firm to recognize Thailand as an important solar market. Earlier this year, Proinso opened a PV centre in Thailand to better serve the local market while Assyce and Sonnedix finished building a 7.5MW PV plant in the north-west province of Nakhon Ratchasima.