Japanese trading house Sojitz Corp. and Osaka Gas Co. have set up a new joint venture with Tokyo-based electric power startup Looop Inc. to launch a rooftop solar power business for industrial and commercial customers in Vietnam.

SOL Energy Co. was established Thursday in southern Vietnam's Dong Nai Province, owned 70 percent by Sojitz Osaka Gas Energy Co., an existing joint venture between Sojitz and Osaka Gas, and 30 percent by Looop, the partners said Friday in a press release.

The new venture plans to install at its expense rooftop solar panels that can provide over 10,000 kilowatts on customers' buildings at the Sojitz-operated Long Duc Industrial Park in the province, according to the release.

SOL Energy will supply these customers with solar power generated on a long-term contract and use the surplus electricity to supply the industrial park's operating companies, thus contributing to the wider use of renewable energy and decarbonization at the park, the release said.

The installation is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year, a Sojitz official told NNA.

The business is expected to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide for the industrial park as a whole by about 5,800 tons annually, according to the release.

The company also plans to expand its solar business beyond Long Duc Industrial Park to other areas including another Sojitz-operated Loteco Industrial Park in the same province, east of Ho Chi Minh City, the official said, adding it aims to install solar power facilities capable of producing 50,000 kW of electricity by around 2030. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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