VPower to embrace future under Belt & Road Initiative

Fueled by the rapid industrializa-tion taking place amid China's Belt and Road Initiative, VPower Group's business outlook is strong, according to a senior executive of the company.

With solid experience in proprietary system integration, VPower is a Hong Kong-listed company specializing in investing, building and operating fast-track distributed power generation (DPG) stations in Southeast Asia, with Myanmar, Indonesia and Bangladesh as its key markets.

"We set our sights on the rapidly growing emerging countries before the launch of the Belt & Road Initiative," said Rorce Au-Yeung, co-CEO of VPower.

He said the company stepped into the Indonesian market and commissioned its first DPG station in Teluk Lembu in late 2012.

"After this project, we expanded into Bangladesh and Myanmar. Since then, we have been in close and long-term collaboration with State-owned entities in Indonesia and Myanmar.

"Given our strong foothold in those countries, we are now ready to take our business to the next level by lever-aging the available long-established technical expertise, local knowledge, financial resources and operation platforms," he added.

VPower is confident that fast-track DPG can meet many emerging countries' electricity demands more effectively and sees promising growth prospect in this segment in nations along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In March, the company planned to acquire clean and renewable power generation projects in Southeast Asia in cooperation with its strategic cornerstone shareholder, CITIC Pacific.

The two companies will establish a joint venture company to invest and develop gas-fired power stations in the region.

"CITIC Pacific has just conducted a meeting with Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on fostering our DPG projects in the country," Au-Yeung said. "This is a solid proof of our influence and robust network in the countries along the route." He believes that VPower's strategic relationship with CITIC Pacific will empower the company to capture the substantial market opportunities in the low electrification countries brought about by the initiative. The company aims to replicate its successful business model in new emerging markets where power supply per capita remains low and power shortages remain widespread, including Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and China.

Launched as a systems integration company, VPower is now one of the largest private gas-fired, engine-based DPG station owners and operators in Southeast Asia. Au-Yeung believes that such success is attributable in large part to the company's ability to deliver DPG stations with "F-A-C-T": Fast-track, Adaptable, Cost-effective and Technologically advanced.

"Requiring less network infrastructure investment than large-scale centralized power plants, DPG can go online between two to 12 months," he said.

"DPG can also provide interim power to complement centralized power plants. It creates the ideal solution for developing regions where large-scale power supplies are being planned."

According to Au-Yeung, gas-fired DPG-installed capacity in Southeast Asia is expected to grow at a com-pound annual growth rate of approximately 20.7 percent between 2015 and 2020, outstripping overall growth for DPG-installed capacity over the same period and presenting promising prospects to the company.

Currently, VPower is operating eight DPG stations in its three key markets, with an aggregate installed capacity of 507.1 megawatts, 256.1 mW of which it added in 2016. To further enhance its strength, over 300 mW of capacity is currently under construction and development.

"We believe our company can successfully address the utility-grade, DPG market's call for lower costs, cleaner energy and fast-delivery of reliable distributed power," Au-Yeung said.

He added that the company would continue to expand its business by a core strategy focusing on five key pillars: existing market consolidation, new market penetration, fuel source diversification, research and development, and acquisitions.

Last year, VPower was successfully listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/15/2017 page47)