EDP Renewables, the renewable energy arm of Spanish energy giant EDP, has been meeting with leaders of central Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, and Quang Tri provinces to explore renewable energy investment opportunities. The group intends to invest over US$1 billion in Vietnamese renewable energy development by 2025, according to Vietnam.vn.

Since 2019, this group has invested over US$500 million in wind and solar power projects in Vietnam’s southern provinces, achieving a total capacity of 500 MW. 

Of note, a combination of favorable climate conditions, supportive government policies, and rising demand has made Vietnam a promising market for renewable energy development in recent years.

In particular, southern Vietnam has high solar irradiance and strong, consistent winds. The average annual sunshine duration in Khanh Hoa province is 2,600 hours per year, while Ninh Thuan province has the most hours of sunshine in a year, in Vietnam, reaching up to 2,800 hours. 

Furthermore, over the past decade, wind and solar energy development in Vietnam has surged, driven by government policies offering attractive feed-in tariffs. At times these have been as high as US 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. For contrast, the feed-in tariff for coal power in 2018 was set at about US 6 cents.

On top of that, Vietnam’s electricity demand has been consistently rising each year, especially during the hotter summer months. The national peak power and daily electricity consumption has reached new record highs this year, with peak power reaching 993 million kWh in one day in April. 

With this in mind, EDP Renewables push into central Vietnam has the potential to be very profitable for the firm.  

See also: Electricity in Vietnam: Foreign Investor Cheat Sheet 2024