The GIF, working with the World Bank’s Energy Global Practice, will help Vietnam to design and structure the auction programme to transition from a feed-in tariff regime to a sustainable competitive auction scheme for solar power generation.
The programme is expected to help address Vietnam’s increased demand for energy and to promote inclusive growth by strengthening the enabling environment for the private sector.
“We are working closely with the government to bring more private resources to the energy sector where the needs are huge and urgent,” said Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s solar competitive bidding programme is part of the government’s broader efforts to accelerate investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy to increase the country’s diversification of electricity generation and reduce CO2 emissions.
Vietnam aims to bring 12 gigawatts of solar energy to the grid by 2030.
“This would be the first solar auction programme to be implemented in Vietnam, which would have large scale replicability,” said Jason Lu, Head of the GIF.
While Vietnam’s economic outlook remains robust, it faces many challenges in meeting its infrastructure needs, particularly in the energy sector as it faces growing demand.
Vietnam is actively seeking to attract private investment and use more public-private partnerships in the energy sector, but needs to adapt its current framework to enable the competitive selection of independent power producers and to minimise the cost of solar power generation.
