USAID Helps Spur Solar Energy Investments in Vietnam

Monday, September 11, 2017

Vietnam has tremendous potential solar energy resources estimated at more than 20,000 megawatts. In April, Vietnam’s Prime Minister issued Decision 11 that supports solar power development and provides a feed-in-tariff of 9.35 cents per kilowatt hour. This new mechanism is attracting a lot of interest from the solar power investment community. On Aug 29-30, USAID Vietnam Low Emission Energy Program together with the USAID Clean Power Asia organized the workshop "Developing, Financing, and Investing in Solar PV Projects in Lower Mekong Countries" in Ho Chi Minh City. More than 160 participants, including developers, investors, policy makers, and financial institutions gathered to share experiences and challenges to developing bankable solar power projects. The workshop highlighted two case studies of successful projects deployed in the Kingdom of Thailand. So What?  While Vietnam’s demand for energy is growing by 10 to 12 percent annually, there is a tremendous opportunity for solar energy to help meet this demand and thereby support sustainable economic growth, strengthen energy security and minimize environmental impact.