HANOI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has planned to increase solar energy capacity from an inconsiderable level now to 850 MW by 2020, some 4,000 MW by 2025 and about 12,000 MW by 2030, the country's major electricity producer and sole distributor said on Wednesday.
Over 30 Vietnamese and foreign investors have registered for building solar power plants with capacity from 30 MW to over 300 MW, mainly in the central region, the state-owned group Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) said on Wednesday, noting that it will build a 200-MW solar plant in 2018 in southern Ninh Thuan province with total investment of 8,000 billion Vietnamese dong (354 million U.S. dollars).
Firms from South Korea, France, Germany, India, Thailand and Singapore have recently registered to construct solar power plants in central Thua Thien Hue, Quang Tri, Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan and Ha Tinh provinces, and southern Ninh Thuan and Hau Giang provinces.
On Wednesday, EVN and the World Bank launched a campaign to promote the deployment of renewable energy in Vietnam, with the installation of five solar measurement stations across the country.
The stations will collect high-quality data on solar radiation data and improve the accuracy of estimates on solar resources. To be published and made freely available online, the data is expected to encourage and assist developers interested in building solar power plants.
Located in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province, Vietnam's first solar plant was connected with the national power grid in 2014, EVN said, adding that the group currently buys electricity produced by solar plants at a price of 9.35 U.S. cents per kWh.
