President Obama’s historic Asia visit has yielded some benefits for clean energy development in Vietnam.
US-based GE has entered an agreement with the government of Vietnam for development of 1 GW wind energy capacity in the country. The agreement was one of the several commercial agreements signed between the US and Vietnam during President Obama’s visit to the south-east Asian country.
GE does have a presence in the country. Wind turbines supplied by the company are operational at a 100 MW wind farm. A private developer in Vietnam is in talks with the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) for expansion of that wind farm by 300 MW.
Vietnam has an ambitious target to add renewable energy capacity. According to the current national plan, the government plans to increase hydropower capacity from 17,000 MW at present to 21,600 MW by 2020 and 27,800 MW by 2030. Wind energy capacity is envisaged to be increased from current 140 MW to 800 MW by 2020 and 6,000 MW by 2030. The government has set a target to increase installed solar power capacity from current 850 MW to 4,000 MW by the end of this decade and 12,000 MW by the end of next.
Yet, some substantiality groups have called upon the government to reduce dependence on fossil fuel-based power plants.