Vietnam energy news coverage is extensive. This is in large part due to a growing thirst for energy to support the Vietnamese economy’s rapid growth. In particular, renewable energy has become an important topic as the country aims to be net-zero by 2050. This section monitors Vietnam energy news including renewable energy, the electricity supply, and key energy regulations.

Vietnamese conglomerate kicks off construction of waste-to-energy plant in HCMC

the-shiv July 24, 2024

Of note, Vietnam currently has 15 waste-to-energy plants under construction. However, only three facilities are operational, processing approximately 10 percent of the country’s total waste. The country discharges roughly 60,000 tons of household waste daily, with an average annual increase of 6 percent projected between 2021 and 2030…

Offshore wind in Vietnam should to be developed by state first: MoIT

the-shiv July 23, 2024

Of note, the Power Development Plan 8–known in short as the PDP8–that was approved last year, was embedded with a target of six gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030. The implementation plan for the PDP8 released earlier this year, however, did not list a single offshore wind power project…

Vietnam state power provider reports first half loss of US$513 million

the-shiv July 19, 2024

Of note, retail electricity prices in Vietnam are regulated and, though permitted, price rises are not all that common. This has led to EVN selling electricity below cost price. As of January, it was losing about VND 142.5 per kilowatt-hour sold. This has been ongoing for some time and has led to EVN accumulating the huge aforementioned losses. The issue here seems to be a reluctance to raise electricity prices rather than an inability to do so…

Vietnam’s New Direct Power Purchases Decree: Unpacked

Mark Barnes July 17, 2024

Last week, Vietnam issued Decree 80 creating a mechanism by which private enterprises and power generators can enter into direct power purchase agreements or DPPAs. Exactly how impactful this decree might be, however, is difficult to determine at this early stage with a lot of moving parts and a number of obstacles to be overcome. This article breaks down and puts into context the key components of this new piece of legislation.

Vietnamese seafood-solar firm to invest in Mekong Delta wind energy

the-shiv July 17, 2024

Notably, the renewable energy segment is a relatively new growth driver for Sao Mai–Sao Mai only started investing in renewable energy in 2017 when it established Sao Mai Solar. Currently, the firm operates the An Hao Solar Power Plant with a 210-megawatt peak capacity and Europlast Long An Solar Power Plant with a 50-megawatt peak capacity. These projects contribute about 5 percent of Sao Mai’s revenue, however, they account for 20 percent of the firm’s gross profit…

Vietnam considering 2.6 cent feed-in-tariff for excess rooftop solar

the-shiv July 16, 2024

Notably, in 2017, to encourage renewable energy, the government implemented a mechanism to buy excess rooftop solar power at a preferential feed-in tariff price of 9.35 cents per kilowatt hour. This policy led to a significant increase in investments in rooftop solar power systems and subsequently ended in late 2020 due to concerns about uncontrolled growth of rooftop solar power sources. This rapid expansion caused challenges in managing the national power grid and since the beginning of 2021, the signing of rooftop solar power purchase and sale contracts has been paused…

Vietnam state power provider records 2023 loss of more than US$1 billion

the-shiv July 11, 2024

Vietnam shelves new coal power plant in southern Vietnam

the-shiv July 6, 2024

Of note, it was announced at the beginning of June that Toyo had managed to secure a US$980 million loan from Exim Bank. This announcement, however, was met with some concern on account of the fact that Vietnam has signed up to a Just Energy Partnership Agreement worth US$15.5 billion to be used to reduce its dependence on coal…

Vietnam issues a decree on direct power purchase agreements

the-shiv July 4, 2024

Vietnam has issued a decree on Direct Power Purchase Agreements–or DPPAs– clearing the way for businesses to buy power directly from power generators. The decree has been a long time coming and has been touted as a critical component to developing Vietnam’s electricity network. Per the decree, high volume power

South Korean minister offers Vietnam support on nuclear energy

the-shiv July 2, 2024

Nuclear power for Vietnam has been raised again, this time by the South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Ahn Duk-geun, and a Vietnam-South Korea business forum in Seoul. The minister has suggested that South Korea could provide support for Vietnam should it choose to pursue it…

Singapore firm adds 196 MW to Vietnam renewable energy to portfolio

the-shiv June 30, 2024

Of note, Vietnam ranked second in attracting FDI in renewable energy among developing economies from 2015 to 2022, according to the UN Trade and Development World Investment Report 2023. Key foreign investors in renewables in Vietnam are GE Renewable Energy, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and Enterprize Energy…

Nuclear Power in Vietnam: Unpacked 2024

the-shiv June 26, 2024

During a state visit by the president of Russia to Vietnam last week, Vietnam’s Prime Minister told the Russians that Vietnam would consider nuclear energy as a means of meeting the net-zero 2050 commitment it made at COP26. Indeed, Vietnam needs more low-emissions electricity, but is nuclear power really a plausible solution?

Spain renewables giant looking at central provinces for Vietnam expansion

the-shiv June 25, 2024

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…

Electricity Vietnam reps meet Samsung leaders amid power supply concerns

the-shiv June 22, 2024

The government has gone to great lengths to assure foreign investors that the supply will be adequate this year, however, moves to eek out support from foreign investors in reducing their power consumption seems to suggest otherwise–Just weeks ago, it was reported that Apple supplier Foxconn had been asked to curtail its power usages by 30 percent in anticipation of power shortages…

Vietnam to consider nuclear power to meet net-zero commitments

the-shiv June 21, 2024

Nuclear power in Vietnam has been floated before. In 2006, the government announce plans to have a nuclear power plant online by 2020 and this was followed a few years later by official plans for nuclear power plants in southern Vietnam in Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa provinces. These were, however, shelved in 2016 in favour of gas and coal on the back of lower demand projections…

Vietnam reservoir flood release indicative of reduced hydro, more coal power strategy?

the-shiv June 17, 2024

This is interesting in that hydropower has been underutilised this year compared to last. Just 15 percent of Vietnam’s power came from hydro from January to April of this year, compared to 25 percent for the same period last year. At the same time it has been reported that about 64.6 percent of Vietnam’s electricity came from burning coal in April, whereas in 2023, on average, coal was responsible for just 46 percent of Vietnam’s electricity supply.

Increased dependence on thermal power spurs Vietnam coal imports increase in May

the-shiv June 12, 2024

Of note, the price it is paying to its key suppliers has varied widely over the first five months of the year. Its most expensive coal imports have come from China averaging US$302 per ton versus its cheapest coal imports from Laos which have cost US$68 a ton by the same metric. On average, it has paid US$166 per ton…

Vietnam solar production slows on end to antidumping moratorium

the-shiv June 11, 2024

Of note, Trina Solar, in November of last year, announced it would almost doubled its investment in Vietnam bringing the total invested to nearly US$900 million. It also said, around the same time, that it believes its solar panels should be exempt from the US tariffs on the ground that its polysilicon comes from the US and Europe. With this in mind, it’s not clear what might happen to the additional investment Trina Solar announced last year…

Vietnam’s zero-VND feed-in-tariffs plan for rooftop solar dumped

the-shiv June 8, 2024

The plan was issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and was designed to tackle the issue of over production that surfaced in Central Vietnam several years ago. Said over production, however, was more the result of projects being approved outside of the plans and policies that were in place for solar power development. Specifically, the Government Inspectorate found that the Power Development Plan 7 had set out to see 850 MW of solar power by 2020, however, a total of 168 solar projects with a total capacity of 14,707 MW were approved in that time…

Vietnam coal emissions jump on reduced hydropower supply

the-shiv June 7, 2024

Vietnam committed to being net-zero by 2050 at the 26th Conference of Parties, however, there have been a number of roadblocks. A Just Energy Transition Partnership agreement, for example, signed back in 2022, was touted as the foundation for a move to greener power generation. Leaked British diplomatic cables, however, suggest there is little confidence among the JETP partners…