Vietnam turning towards renewable energy
Upcoming projects could lead to a greener future in Vietnam
With a fast economic growth, Vietnam is increasing its electricity consumption every year. Currently, most of the electric energy is coming from coal plants, which are one of the main environmental pollutants in the country (in the recent decade, Vietnam has been experiencing issues with pollution, especially in the main urban areas).
With this in mind, and after abandoning the plan to build nuclear power plants, the government has set a target to produce 10.7% of its electricity through renewable energy (mainly through solar and wind energy) by 2030. Based on recent developments, private companies might lead the way in reaching this target.
Solar power in Vietnam
Sharp Corporation, Japanese-Taiwanese electronics behemoth has signed an agreement this February to build a large size solar power plant in Central Vietnam. Sharp will invest together with Vietnam’s GIa Lai Electricity JSC to build a 48MW plant in Thua Thien Hue province. Current plan outlines September 2018 as the start of operations, when the solar plant will be able to generate enough power to provide electricity to more than 30,000 households in Vietnam.
Wind power in Vietnam
Also in February of 2018, Thailand’s Superblock Pcl announced its plan to build 700MW of wind farms in Vietnam, with the total investment of around 1.76 billion USD. The first phase of the investments will cost around 655 million USD, and will consist of three near-shore wind farms, all in Vietnam’s southern provinces (Bac Lieu, Soc Trang and Ca Mau). The construction is planned to finish in 2020.
Currently, Vietnam has wind power capacity of 140MW, with the 2030 goal of reaching 6,000MW.
BDG insights
With its dependency on thermal power, and significant number of vehicles on its streets (mainly motorbikes), Vietnam will have to focus on green projects that will lower the overall environmental degradation and pollution. Based on its geographic position, with a long coastline and a lot of sunshine, Vietnam has potential to reap the benefits of solar and wind power, and strive towards a green future.
Original sources (1, 2)