Sunseap 2020 Review

By Nicholas Ng
December 29, 2020

First, we would like to thank you (our readers) for following us throughout this year on our blogs/social media/Linkedin and also best wishes to all and stay safe and healthy for the upcoming Xmas and new year celebrations.

As 2020 draws to end, here's a lookback at some of the significant events that occurred in this rather peculiar year.

2 Digits that we wished didn't appear in 2020: 19

Yes, the dreaded 19 (or more specifically COVID-19), which came like a global pop star in late 2019 and stayed with us throughout 2020 which caused massive lockdowns throughout the world, disruptions to the economy/daily lives (mask on for everyone) and even wiped out some industries (akin to the ice age). We, at Sunseap, was also not spared and we had to adapt and respond fast and… We did.

For example, during the pandemic, because of the lockdown in the foreign workers' dorms, many of our blue collared foreign workers could not get out to work and hence posed a big issue to many industries including our solar industry.

For example, our 5 megawatt-peak (MWp) Woodlands Floating Solar PV System, which was one of the biggest off shore floating solar PV system in the world (size of about 5 football fields) was one that was affected. However, during the period, when most of us were working were working from homes, our office (local) colleagues then decided, (instead of working from home), to come down & volunteer and help out at our floating pv project at Woodlands.

Imagine your office accountants, admin, HR, marketing and even IT programmers coming down to site to help carry panels from the lorries to the sea… Well, tough times call for tough measures and that's what we did. And with that additional help, we managed to get our project back on track.

Next, the ABCs of Funding

Earlier this year, we secured a $50 million funding from both Temasek and ABC World Asia, an Asia-focused impact investing private equity fund.

"Renewable energy is a growing sector that presents a compelling opportunity to create meaningful positive outcomes. This investment addresses two of the five main investment themes identified as areas of focus for ABC World Asia – Climate and Water Solutions, and Smart and Liveable Cities." Founder and CEO of ABC World Asia, Mr. David Heng.

www.sunseap.com/sg/news/2020/Sunseap-receives-S$50-million-funding-from-ABC-World-Asia-and-Temasek-20200129.html

Besides ABC and Temasek, we also raised $100 million from Banpu, a listed company on the Stock Exchange of Thailand as both companies were aligned in our common goal to build towards a more sustainable future with green de-carbonizing technologies.

www.sunseap.com/sg/news/2020/Sunseap-raises-$100-million-in-Series-D-funding-20200214.html

Powering the World's Biggest Social Media Company

In October 2020, we signed a deal with Facebook to supply them with renewable energy to support their first custom-built data centre in Asia. This deal will help Facebook reach their goal of supporting its operations with 100% renewable energy and 75% reduced greenhouse gas emission.

With sustainability as a common drive to both Sunseap and Facebook, this massive project will be an important part to reaching Facebook's goal of supporting all their operations with renewable energy.

www.sunseap.com/sg/news/2020/Sunseap-and-Facebook-sign-agreement-for-singapore-solar-from-more-than-1200-rooftops-to-support-data-center-operations.html

Conclusion

Besides those mentions in this blog, our other notable achievements/milestones also include:

1. Charge+: Our New Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Business Unit

2. Completion of Singapore's first utility-scale Energy Storage System (ESS) test bed

3. We crossed 300MWp of Solar PV projects in Singapore alone

4. Our Sunseap Taiwan Solar Projects:
    a. Our University Solar PV project in Taiwan
    b. Our first Solar PV carport in Taiwan
    c. Our Rubber Tyre Recycling plant Solar PV project in Taiwan

5. Our First Sustainability Impact Report: see diagram and links
    a. www.sunseap.com/sg/about/impact-report.html
    b. www.sunseap.com/sg/news/2020/Sunseap-first-sustainability-impact-report-202004.html

With that, we know that the road to recovery from this dreaded pandemic might be a long and difficult one. However, we also believe that our collective human spirit to overcome all challenges will help us tide these trying times, just like how we did it this year.

We will continue to adapt and working around to the ever-changing environment and unpredictable problems.

Last but not least, we will also not forget what drives us to be the leading solar company in Singapore – To continue to push the boundaries of the de-carbonizing technologies and to promote sustainable living across Asia.

Should you have more information or wish to join us on the sustainability movement, drop us an email at enquiries@sunseap.com 😄

In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, and we hope that everyone will have a great year end and a better start to 2021!