California-based clean energy firm Vasari Energy plans to build and operate two ground-mount and two floating solar projects in Vietnam over the next two years.
Several provincial authorities in Vietnam are developing guidelines for renewables that should improve the country’s solar market, but stubbornness from the monopoly utility EVN means that the largest-scale projects remain the preserve of big risk-takers, according to a representative of international law firm Baker McKenzie.
Ho Chi Minh City-based conglomerate TTC Corp plans to start constructing three solar projects, totalling 150MW of capacity, in Vietnam in the first half of next year.
Leading thin-film manufacturer First Solar said at its 2017 Analyst Day event that it was already building its second CdTe module plant in Vietnam to support the transition to its Series 6 large format panel.
The case for solar remains strong in Southeast Asia since power demand is still growing rapidly in many of its markets, but traversing the unique regulations and policies of each country and knowing which PV segment is most suitable remains challenging. Here are some of PV Tech’s key takeaways from last week’s Solar and Off-Grid Renewables Southeast Asia (SORSEA) 2017 conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
France-based floating PV specialist Ciel & Terre is expecting to launch a floating solar equipment manufacturing facility in Thailand next March and is in the final stages of approving a Vietnam facility.
Vietnamese renewable energy firm SolarBK has received a licence from the People's Committee of Da Nang City, Vietnam, for a 4.4MW solar PV project, which it claimed will be the first such plant set to be entirely implemented by Vietnamese engineers.
Vietnam’s final solar power purchase agreement (PPA) has to a large extent ignored recommended changes from a group of international Chambers of Commerce and therefore its attractiveness to foreign investors remains in doubt, according to representatives from law and finance sectors.
Dr. Nguyen Tuan, director at the Renewable Energy Centre, Institute of Energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), Vietnam, discusses the current state of play for solar in Vietnam.
