Add 2,400 MW solar power to energy plan: ministry

This latest proposal, if approved by the government, will add to the threshold of 8,736 megawatts in solar power capacity that the ministry had suggested in its earlier draft of the ten-year (2021-2030) Power Development Plan 8 for Vietnam’s energy sector.

The ministry said that an increase of 28 percent in solar power capacity was needed to avoid possible legal disputes with investors as the projects with the additional 2,428 megawatts capacity have either been finished or approved.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade had submitted the Power Development Plan 8 to the Prime Minister’s office in March 2021 but it has not been approved until now.

Several changes, including Vietnam’s recent commitment to bring net carbon emission to zero by 2050, need to be reflected in the plan, the government had said.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh has led nearly 30 meetings so far to discuss the plan, which seeks to increase Vietnam’s electricity load by 9.84 percent from 2021 to 2025, and 8.88 percent from 2026 to 2030.

This growth calculation is based on a projected annual GDP growth of 7.5 percent in the first half of the decade and 7.2 percent in the second half.

Under the plan, thermal power will remain the largest source of energy for Vietnam by 2030, followed by hydropower and liquefied natural gas power.