The 2018 Việt Nam Renewable Energy Summit opened in the central coastal city of Nha Trang yesterday.
The three-day event, a match-making platform for key stakeholders in the renewable energy sector, has brought together some 30 local investors, including TTC Energy, KN Group, Phú Cường, Ocean Group and Hado Group and international developers and investors like Tata Power, Mainstream and Blue Circle.
Also taking part are subsidiaries of the State-owned Electricity of Việt Nam like the National Load Dispatch Centre, Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company No 3, and Thuận Bình Wind Power Joint Stock Company.
There are several conferences, workshops, exhibitions and match-making forums, and industry players will share their knowledge and widen business contacts.
VRES 2018 has topical sessions to discuss market intelligence and connect key investors with approved renewable projects that are looking for investment.
Promotion of renewable energy
The Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a circular last September on encouraging solar projects in Việt Nam, which included a final template for a power purchase agreement (PPA) and the feed-in-tariff (FiT) rate of 9.35 US cents per kWh for solar projects and specific guidelines for implementation of utility-scale and rooftop solar projects.
According to figures released at the summit, there are projects with a combined capacity of over 17GW in various stages of development, mainly in the central and southern regions, as against a solar energy master plan target of just 850MW by 2020.
Given the oversupply and speculation in the solar market, investors are facing the big challenge of identifying projects that are bankable and competitive to be awarded PPAs.
Khánh Hoà Province where Nha Trang is situated is famous for its abundance of solar and wind power resources.
Many investors have chosen it and nearby provinces such as Ninh Thuận and Đăk Lắk to set up renewable projects, the event organisers said. — VNS.