Vietnam seeks to more than double its power generation capacity by 2020 to enable a fast-growing economy. The country is anticipated to face power shortages from 2021 as a result of rising demand.
The country will boost power capacity to 125-130 gigawatts by 2030 from the existing from about 54 gigawatts, media reports said. The communist party’s politburo said in a document that the strategy is “aimed at ensuring national energy security, and sufficiently supplying power for fast and sustainable socio-economic development.”
Vietnam is one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. The country aims to increase its renewable energy capacity to 15 percent by 2030. It is also trying to reduce dependence on coal for electricity production, according to the strategy document. Currently, coal accounts for 38 percent of Vietnam’s capacity.
With the country’s new energy plan, oil refineries are expected to meet at least 70 percent of demand for refined petroleum products. In addition, the country will develop necessary infrastructure to import 8 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas every year by 2030.
Next week, the Vietnam Business Forum will launch the second edition of the Made in Vietnam Energy Plan (MVEP 2.0) to drive investment in clean energy. The report proposes six policy actions to help the country transit toward sustainable energy.
That said, the report also recommends incentives and implementation of regulatory frameworks to boost investment in renewable energy, such as
such as rooftop solar, battery storage, floating solar and offshore wind projects.