The Next Big Thing - Wind Energy Market in Vietnam

The economic growth of Vietnam in recent years has led to the rapid increase in demand for energy. Total energy consumption over the past decade has grown by about 10 to 15 percent, twice as much as the GDP growth. Although the potential is well appreciated in Vietnam, the share of renewable energy in general and wind power in particular in the electricity market is still limited. By the end of 2018, nearly 300 MW of wind power put into operation, which is far from the target set by the Government in Decision No. 428 QD-TTg dated 18/03/2016, National Power Development Plan for 2011-2020 with a vision to 2030. Accordingly, the target was set to have 800 MW of wind power put into usage by 2020, which accounts for 0.8% of electricity production and 6,000 MW of wind power put into usage by 2030, which accounts for 2.1% of electricity production. To achieve this goal, many technical, financial and policy constraints need to be improved. One of the difficulties of wind power projects is the access to international funds, while requirements related to environmental impact assessment are not satisfactory. In order to help domestic wind power investors better understand the requirements of international financial institutions related to environmental impact assessment as well as Vietnam regulations, we would like to introduce the “Whitepaper on Vietnam Wind Energy Development”. Due to differences between domestic and international requirements, this whitepaper aims to avoid the risk of creating a “two tier” guideline. It integrates both international and national requirements for Challenges and Opportunities for wind power projects, and thus provides full information on regulations that consultants and project developers should follow. We hope this white paper will contribute to promoting the development of Vietnam’s renewable energy market in particular and the Vietnam electricity market in a sustainable and effective way in general, for a greener Vietnam.