SolarNova, a solar tender led by Housing & Development Board (HDB) and launched by the Economic Development Board (EDB), has awarded to Sunseap Leasing Pte Ltd. The tender covers 76MW of solar power projects, and is the largest and first one in Singapore’s public and private sectors.

HDB called in June the first SolarNova tender to consolidate demand across multiple agencies for the 40MWp of solar installations. Being empowered by EDB, the program encourages government agencies to use solar power so that it can accelerate the solar industry growth in Singapore.

During the tender period, 20 local and foreign firms expressed their interest in receiving it, while Sunseap awarded one of the bid, which is for installation of Singapore’s largest solar rooftop.

SolarNova overall aims to add 350MWp of solar power to the country by 2020, and more tenders will be called over the next two four to five years. The next tender will be called in the first half of 2016.

The bid awarded by Sunseap will be constructed at some Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and PUB sites as well as around 900 HDB blocks across the island. The installations are expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

HDB acts as the government’s central procurement agency for solar panels, so that agencies that demand smaller volume of solar panels can still enjoy solar energy at low costs.

“SolarNova is a game-changing programme to aggregate and catalyse solar lead demand in Singapore, so as to build capabilities in our solar industry. The escalating adoption of commercially viable solar energy in Singapore will also generate new innovation opportunities around smart grids and energy management. This initiative will strengthen Singapore’s position as the leading clean energy hub in the region,” said Mr Goh Chee Kiong, Executive Director, Cleantech, EDB.

(photo source: Sunseap)