Investment in renewable energy is in line with Vietnam’s policy on developing alternative energy sources to ensure energy security and protect the environment, Monsted said at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on December 5.With its experience and expertise in the field, Denmark wants to share new technologies with Vietnam, he affirmed.
Pham Trong Thuc, a representative of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the Government of Vietnam has encouraged capable international enterprises to invest in wind power, thus transferring their technologies to local producers, adding that numerous incentives will be offered to them.
The workshop is an opportunity to introduce the country’s wind power potentials and incentives for investors in the field, Thuc said. Vietnam’s wind power potentials have not been fully tapped, particularly in the central region. There are only four operating projects, with a combined capacity of over 159 MW.
The price of wind power in Vietnam remains low, but this is not the biggest concern for investors, said Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of the Vestas Vietnam Company. Dung said wind resources are crucial to the success of a wind power project, adding that with high wind reserves, wind power projects in Vietnam are really attractive to investors. He also emphasised competition in the sector, saying that investors have to use advanced technologies to ensure their projects are effective.
Consultants from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) shared the international perspective on solar power development in Vietnam, and made a presentation on international and regional experiences in the technical and financial assessment of solar power projects.
Solar has been high on the agenda in Vietnam since the publication of the Prime Minister’s decision 11/2017 in April, which fixed the price for solar power at 9.35 cents/kWh. It also sets June 2019 as the deadline for solar power plants to be built and connected to the grid to receive the guaranteed solar feed-in tariff (FIT) price.
Solar projects require high upfront investments. In some provinces, land availability or grid capacity limit the number of projects that can be approved by local and central authorities.
According to the Vietnamese Government’s targets, solar power is expected to become the main new renewable energy source in the future, with an installed capacity to be increased from around 6-7 MW by the end of 2017 to 850 MW by 2020 (equivalent to 1.6 percent of the country’s power generation) and 12,000 MW by 2030 (equivalent to 3.3 percent of the country’s power generation).
