Vietnam’s wind power potential
In accordance with the growth of Vietnam’s economy and population, the country is thirsting for energy. Vietnam’s energy requirement increases by approx. 15% per annum. In 2008, the growth of the Gross National Product has almost doubled. It is expected that a further increase by at least 10% per annum will take place between now and 2020. It is clear that energy is an indispensable component for the reinforcement of Vietnam’s economic growth and particularly for the reliability of the economy in the production sector. The government oriented itself towards the global trend and is involved in finding alternatives to traditional energy sources. Now, it has put renewable energy at the top of the agenda.
The MOIT published the 6th Master Plan for the Development of Electricity in Vietnam. According to the target of the government to increase, from 2010 on, the production of renewable energies by 100-200 MW per annum, a further plan is drawn up. The government’s target is to satisfy, from 2020 on, 5% of the Vietnamese energy requirement via renewable energies. The latest feasibility studies make clear that 8.6% of the whole country has wind power potential (i.e. with a wind speed higher than 7 meters per second). Vietnam’s wind potential is highest in the central coastal region (including QuangBinh, Quang Tri, ThuaThien, Hue and BinhDinh) and in the south (including NinhThuan, BinhThuan, Lam Dong, TraVinh and SocTrang). Experts forecast Vietnam’s a total potential for wind power to be possibly more than 500,000 MW! It corresponds to 650 coal power plants!
Against these breathtaking forecasts, the present production of wind power is very small. Presently, it results mainly from the inadequacies in the integrated network related to the electricity prices – namely the current price paid by EVN for network-dependent electricity. It is considerably lower than that what is needed to make wind power project financially viable. Although the MOIT has issued in June last year a decision (“Decision 18”) where the presented electricity prices are based on avoidable costs, it is difficult to predict, just in the short term, how network-dependent wind power can be competitive without capitalizing funds. (The presentation of calculation of avoidable costs would go beyond the scope of this article.) A possible source of the funds could be the introduction of various taxes. These could include an income tax on electricity, a carbon emission charge or a deduction of the mineral exploitation tax. The aim of the GTZ project in Vietnam is to examine the possibility of such options in order to eventually come to a viable closing of the tariff gap. Continue reading “Lawyer in Vietnam Oliver Massmann Renewable Energy”