Renewable energy boom in Vietnam

(Engineering daily) Nguyen Anh Duong = Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung, speaking at a recent conference on low-carbon energy, said in 2018 investors sought to build solar power projects adding up to 10GW.

Of them, 121 with a capacity of 8,100 MW were approved for construction, 100 of them have already signed power purchase agreements with distributors, And another 220 projects are awaiting approval, he said.

The national electricity development plan approved by the Government envisages total power output reaching 13GW in 2030 from 4.7GW currently. This means around 83,000 MW of capacity would need to be added along with the requisite distribution infrastructure.

The development of clean energy sources will be crucial when Vietnam’s economy is expected to grow at a 6.5 – 7.5 percent clip.

However, Ministry of Industry and Trade officials warned rapid development of renewable energy would also face many challenges like high investment costs, limited power grid infrastructure capacity, need for large tracts of land, and difficulties related to the control and regulation of electricity systems.

According to Deputy Minister Hung, power demand has often been growing at 1.8-2.0 times the GDP growth rate, putting great pressure on finances, and a programme to address these challenges is needed.

Vietnam currently relies largely on hydropower and thermal power for its electricity needs, but its hydropower potential is almost fully exploited and oil and gas reserves are running low.