Power development plan to be revised to align with Vietnam's global climate change commitment

The draft National Power Development Plan for the period 2021-2030 (draft PDP VIII), with a vision to 2045 will be revised to align with Vietnam's commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 made at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is recalculating the country’s electricity generation sources. Under a plan announced by the ministry in November, the total installation capacity of power sources by 2030 will be 155,722 MW, a reduction of 24,305 MW compared to the scenario released in March.

Under the latest scenario, coal power and LNG-fired electricity will decrease by 6,694 MW and 18,550 MW respectively, while wind power output will be promoted. Specifically, onshore wind power generation is expected to reach 17,338 MW by 2030, an increase of 1,258 MW compared to March’s scenario. Meanwhile, offshore wind power will be up by 1,000 MW to 4,000 MW by 2030.

The proportion of coal-fired power will decrease slightly, accounting for 25.49 percent of total electricity sources compared to 26.7 percent in March's plan.

LNG-fired electricity will account for 9.49 percent while onshore wind power 11.13 percent and offshore wind power 2.57 percent in comparison with 9.9 percent, 10.7 percent and 2 percent, respectively, under the plan unveiled in March.

Mark Hutchinson, the chair of Southeast Asia Task Force at Global Wind Energy Council spoke highly of Vietnam’s commitment to reach net-zero emission by 2050 as well as the consideration of raising the capacity of offshore wind power in the draft PDP VIII, saying this is a very positive signal of the Government's attention to and confidence in the development of offshore wind power.

According to Hutchinson, the early deployment of offshore wind power will create momentum for the development of the offshore wind power industry, thereby reducing investment costs in the future.

In the context that coal power is likely to be significantly reduced, wind power will serve as an ideal source of power to offset a reduction in electricity generation.

In addition, the development of offshore wind power will protect Vietnam's energy industry from the risks of fuel price fluctuations in the world market, he said./