Japan's JERA to buy 35% stake in Vietnam's renewable energy firm for Y15 billion

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's biggest power generator JERA said on Tuesday it will spend about 15 billion yen ($112 million) to buy a 35.1% stake in Vietnamese renewable energy company Gia Lai Electricity JSC (GEC) to expand its overseas business.

The acquisition of an affiliate of Vietnamese conglomerate TTC Corp comes as the Japanese utility steps up its decarbonisation efforts to help tackle global climate change.

The deal is aimed at contributing to both economic growth and decarbonisation in Vietnam, JERA said in a statement.

Under the deal to be completed by October or November, JERA will buy about 14% stake in GEC from International Finance Corp and about 21% from Armstrong Asset Management Pte, JERA said.

GEC, which holds about 600 megawatts (MW) of wind, solar and hydroelectric power assets, including projects under construction, aims to expand its power generation assets to 1.7 gigawatts (GW) by 2025, mainly solar and wind power, according to JERA.

After the acquisition, JERA's renewable power assets through equity holdings will grow to nearly 2 GW, it said.

JERA is a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power.

($1 = 133.8600 yen)

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Jan Harvey)