A shortage of policies on power tariffs for renewable energy, particularly solar electricity, has prevented the sector from attracting investors, said Prof Dang Dinh Thong from the Vietnam Clean Energies Association (VCEA).
A shortage of policies on power tariffs for renewable energy, particularly solar electricity, has prevented the sector from attracting investors, said Prof Dang Dinh Thong from the Vietnam Clean Energies Association (VCEA).
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| Electricity workers clean solar panels (Photo: VNA) |
“Several investors are ready to invest in solar electricity projects in Vietnam,” Thong said.
He told a conference on developing solar electricity in Vietnam held in Hanoi on September 21 that investors have looked to central Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces, which have a number of solar and wind power projects and also wish to expand to Quang Ngai, Thua Thien Hue, Ha Tinh, Hau Giang and Bac Lieu.
“The biggest challenge for the sector’s development is price mechanism. The solar electricity price should be calculated to ensure suitable profits for investors,” he said.
VCEA statistics showed that the country has about 30 local and foreign investors with solar projects of 20MW to over 300MW. Several investors from the Republi of Korea, France and India registered to invest in some central provinces.
He said that the number of local investors studying investing in clean energies has risen. For example, the Central Power Corporation has a solar electricity plant with capacity of 150MW in the central Khanh Hoa and the Electricity of Vietnam planned to invest in plants in Dong Nai and Binh Thuan.
Vietnam has potential for solar energy as it has solar irradiance of 4.3 kWh/m2 and averages 2,000 hours of sunlight each year.
However, investors have faced challenges when investing in the sector.
Le Vinh Son, chairman of the clean energies and energy saving group under the Vietnam Private Sector Forum and chairman of the Son Ha Group said companies have been ready to invest in the sector.
“Policies on clean energies, especially solar energy have not been synchronous. Resources for clean energies have been limited and State management on the sector has been poor,” Son said.
Diep Bao Canh, chairman and general director of Red Sun Solar Energy Company said officers in management agencies lack knowledge on solar energy, making them unqualified to assess projects.
Financial institutions and banks also struggled to make credit assessments for solar power projects, Canh added.
He suggested the Government create a technical criteria relating to solar energy to serve as a foundation for project assessment.
(Source:VNA)
