Vietnam seeing a boom in renewable energy projects

Vietnam has seen a boom in renewable energy projects, in a bid to meet the nation’s future demands for power, after the Government scrapped plans to build a nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuận Province.

Experts have noted that this is a golden opportunity for the country, which is confronted by environmental issues, to develop renewable energy, given the huge potential of wind and solar power.

In 2015, the Prime Minister approved a renewable energy development strategy by 2030 with a vision to 2050, which targeted an increase in the ratio of power generated from renewable energy to 32 per cent by 2030 and 43 per cent by 2050.

The national project for power development in 2011-20 also identified developing renewable energy as a breakthrough to ensure the security of the nation’s energy supplies, and reduce the negative impact of generating power on the environment.

This could be regarded as a launching pad to promote investment in developing renewable energy in Việt Nam, according to Võ Tân Thành, deputy chairman of the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

There were some 50 wind power, and more than 100 solar power projects, along with a number of biomass projects being developed in the country.

Hundreds of solar projects have been registered, as of July 2017, allowing them to seek investors, with a total capacity of up to 17,000 MW, according to an estimate by the Energy Programme’s officer under the US Agency for International Development.

Also, many investors recently announced very large investments in renewable energy projects in Việt Nam.

Thiên Tân Group announced it would invest US$2 billion in building five solar power projects in Ninh Thuận Province by 2020. The group also seeks to develop some 20 large-scale solar power plants in the northern provinces by 2020.