Vietnam takes lead in Southeast Asia’s solar photovoltaic market

TIN LIÊN QUAN
	Another solar power plant inaugurated in Ninh Thuan
	Ninh Thuan no longer the land of fierce heat and strong wind

Solar installation progress in ASEAN (2010-2019). (Photo: The ASEAN Post)

According to research by Wood Mackenzie, the nation’s cumulative solar photovoltaic installation will hit 5.5 GW this year, making up 44% of Southeast Asia’s total capacity, compared to just 134 MW (or 0.134 GW) in 2018.

The country is aiming to boost its power output produced by renewable energy to about 23% by 2030, according to Andreas Cremer, director of energy and infrastructure for Europe, Middle East and Asia at German investment firm DEG.

The power development plan of Vietnam is evolving continuously, Cremer made that statement at the Asia Clean Energy Summit last week. The Vietnamese Government’s renewables and hydro targets for its energy mix was raised from 16% in 2011 to 23% in 2016.

With massive installations also come curtailment problems. The installed capacity in Vietnam’s key provinces has already exceeded the grid capacity by 18%. The approved capacity for the central provinces of Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan amounts to 5 GW, more than double the grid usable capacity.

Grid expansion is expected to increase grid capacity for solar in key southern provinces by about 25% in 2020 compared to 2019. However, more investment is needed to address curtailment concerns, added Shrestha.

Feed-in tariff for solar power plants in Vietnam

Earlier in July this year, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had tasked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review a media report saying many solar power plants are operating under capacity due to national grid overload.

Vietnam witnessed a boom in construction of solar power plants thanks to the introduction of the Prime Minister’s Decision No.11/2017/QD-TTg on promoting solar power development projects in Vietnam.

Solar panels installed on the roof of a house in HCM City. (Photo: tuoitre.vn)

Under the decision, all solar power plants across the country shall enjoy a feed-in tariff (FIT) of 9.35 cents per kilowatt-hour for a period of 20 years if they begin commercial operation before June 30, 2019.

In the first six months of 2019, nearly 90 plants with the combined design capacity of approximately 4,500 MW were connected to the national grid, accounting for 10% of the national total capacity.

One of the biggest challenges for the power sector is to implement transmission projects to absorb designed power capacity of solar power plants as this process averagely takes about 3-5 years.

Indian company commissions solar plant in Vietnam India’s solar PV module manufacturer Waaree Energies announced on June 4 that it has officially put into operation a 50MW ground-mounted solar plant in Vietnam.

Third solar power plant in Dak Lak inaugurated The BMT solar power farm in Krong Pak district, Dak Lak province, was inaugurated on April 25, becoming the third solar power plant in the ...

Solar Show 2019 underway in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam’s leading clean energy event, The Solar Show 2019, is being held in Ho Chi Minh City from April 3-4, attracting thousands of exhibitors and ...