Vietnam Approves Plan to Boost Renewables by 2030

In a move to boost renewable energy resources, Vietnam has approved the Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8). With this, it aims to aggressively develop renewable energy sources for electricity generation and reduce its dependability on coal.

The plan is expected to ensure national energy security by supplying adequate electricity and to achieve the  target of an average GDP growth rate of approximately 7 per cent per year over the 2021-2030 period and 6.5-7 per cent on-year over the 2031-2050 period.

As per the statement, the total estimated investment for the development of power sources and transmission grids for the 2021-2030 period is $134.7 billion. While,for the 2031-2050 period, the  capital is estimated to be $399-523 billion, of which the investment in power sources accounts for ~ $364-511 billion and that for transmission grids stands at roughly $35-39 billion.

The PDP8  aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power generation to between 204 and 254 million metric tonnes by 2030 and 27 to 31 million MT by 2050. In addition, the peak emissions will be no more than 170 million MT by 2030.

Moreover, it is expected that international partners will  implement their Just Energy Transition Partnership commitments according to their pledge  in December 2022, where the Group of Seven (G7) nations and other wealthier countries had pledged $15.5 billion to support Vietnam’s transition towards green energy. It is hoped that by 2030, two inter-regional renewable energy service centres will be established to facilitate electricity production, transfer, and consumption.

As per reports, the plan had been delayed for more than two years due to internal squabbles and work on complex reforms.

Further, the reports also disclosed  that though it is an important step  to unlock funding for renewable projects, especially offshore wind but it is  not completely in line with G7 goals, and Vietnam will still be heavily reliant on coal this decade.

However, with the present approved plan it  is also expected to  raise  the power generation capacity to more than 150 GW by 2030 which was ~ 69 GW at the end of 2020. Also, as per the present plan, it is expected that by 2050, the proportion of renewable energy will be reaching  67.7-71.5 per cent.