Unravelling the past, present and future of solar policy in Vietnam
Solar installs throughout 2020 took Vietnam’s cumulative capacity to more than 19.4GW. Image: JinkoSolar.
Vietnam’s year-end solar installation figure of 9GW captured headlines in January 2021. But how did Vietnam grow its cumulative solar installations from a 2018 base of 106MWp, according to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Renewable Capacity Statistics, to year end 2020 cumulative PV capacity of over 19.4GWp?
In a word, policy. The uncapped solar Feed-in Tariff (FIT) incentive policies to be more specific.
Cumulative solar capacity of ASEAN nations. IRENA (2020), Renewable Energy Statistics 2020, EVN (2021)
The original FIT1
In brief
On 21 January 2021, the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority of Vietnam (EREA) submitted Report No. 20/BC-DL to the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade in charge. The report requests the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT)’s internal approval of the draft of the Prime Minister’s decision on the selection of investors for grid-connected solar power projects in Vietnam (“
Draft Decision”).
This Draft Decision would apply the selection mechanism on a long-term basis. Bidding rounds will be conducted based on a so-called Renewable Energy Development Plan formulated by the MOIT for each five-year period. A more specific plan will be circulated on a biannual basis.