INTERVIEW WITH MR. KOLDO GUTIERREZ FROM IDSUD ENERGIES
July 10, 2024
- 1. Kindly tell us something about your work profile/business including yourself.
First and foremost, thank you for the opportunity to introduce the esteemed members of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam IDSUD Energies.
IDSUD Energies is an Independent Power Producer (IPP) specialised in engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of solar PV projects, including ground mounted as well as rooftop projects. With broad reaching technological capabilities that include energy storage solutions, carbon footprint management, building load shifting as well as peak shaving, IDSUD Energies supports a variety of building energy management initiatives. Our strong presence in Vietnam, Singapore and Southeast Asia, as well as our home markets of France and Morocco, allows us to be at the forefront of this transformative industry, enabling us to offer tailored financial options to our customers to unlock a broad adoption of renewable energy solutions.
I am the CEO for Asia of IDSUD Energies. I have been working in Southeast Asia for the last almost 9 years, with experience in countries like Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, and to a lesser extent, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia. My experience as a project manager gives me a resourceful perspective to optimize and simplify the overall process, approach that is usually very handy when it comes to executing construction / engineering projects.
- 2. What made you / your company decided to develop in Asian market especially in Vietnam?
Primarily, our experience in the region has been the main motivator to focus our energy and resources into building a strong presence in Asia, specifically Southeast Asia. Vientam is a familiar market to us. We participated in the development of the Vietnamese solar industry back in 2020, so it comes natural to us to focus on a market we are comfortable with.
From a renewable energy industry perspective, Southeast Asia is an excellent growth opportunity. Each country has its own regulation as well as very different levels of market maturity. The learnings from one country can be deployed onto another one, and viceversa. For instance, the level of excellence in Singapore market has reached in both construction and financing allows companies like IDSUD Energies to offer innovative solutions to more complex markets like Vietnam, where a simple approach might not be enough.
- 3. As far as your sector stands today, what services IDSUD offers to their clients?
We offer to our customer in Vietnam to benefit from the solar PV technology via an array of customizable business models, from PPA (Power Purchase Agrements, zero cost to the offtaker) to leasing agreements and well as outright purchase options. IDSUD Energies offers rooftop and ground mounted installations, pure Solar PV as well as combined Solar PV & BESS solutions (also known as batteries), EV charging stations, standalone smart lighting solutions, all of which can be financed and leased. IDSUD Energies is a one stop shop for all energy and sustainability needs, including value chain carbon analysis, decarbonization plans, carbon credits / renewable energy certificates and carbon audits.
- 4. What do you think are the biggest challenges for this sector in the future?
There is a certain level of uncertainty in terms of regulations and norms to follow. To overcome this challenge, we implement on our projects (from a design perspective, material selection as well as financing perspective) a very conservative approach, following the most stringent guidelines required at more mature overseas markets. We have witnessed that in fact less mature markets, overtime, tend to adapt same if not similar requirements to those of more mature markets. This approach allows us to provide the best quality products and services to our customers while giving us certain level of protection against potential regulatory changes that might have a retroactive component baked into them.
- 5. What type of promotional and communication campaigns do you work on?
We are currently relying on a selected group of partners that do share with us opportunities to work on. Our overseas customers also reach us for support then in the Vietnamese market. We are on our early stages of market development in Vietnam. Word of mouth is the main channel of communication we are deploying and supporting.
- 6. What is your advice to companies interested in your services?
Regardless of the angle companies interested in our services come from, I advise them to have a serious look into the technical and design aspects of the proposals they receive. Whether it is for cost cutting, cost control, value chain decarbonisation, system resilience, load shifting, peak shaving, just looking at the price per kWh can lead to suboptimal decisions.
For instance, a system designed to be maintained might have a smaller capacity / overall power. However, a system that can’t be properly maintained can lead to a subpar performance, generating lesser kWh than a smaller system, with the disadvantages of having a bigger and undermaintained power system in their rooftop. Or a system installed in shaded areas. Or a system so aggressively designed that its prone to require future modifications due to changes in regulations.
My advice to all companies interested in our services is to understand the proposal they receive, to enquire about why certain decisions are made, to confirm the included scope of work, and to openly discuss with their suppliers how to optimise the project to both maximize generation while minimizing cost, which will lead to better savings for everyone. Reach to us for free assessment.
- 7. Please tell us a little about future plans of your company in Vietnam.
We have plans to grow and expand our reach in Vietnam, both in terms of installed capacity and services offered. The untapped growth opportunities in Vietnam are unquestionable. Vietnam has inmense potential to solarize and decarbonize its economy with a combination of distributed and centralized renewable energy projects. Distributed energy projects do allow plenty of companies to benefit from cheaper cost of energy, more reliable source of energy, while creating a long term and skillful workforce to support the operation and maintenance of the powerplants. We are working to continue creating such infrastructure as well as benefiting from it.
Many thanks to Mr. Koldo Gutierrez for sharing your experience with us.