Within the framework of the "Energy Export Initiative" program of the German Federal Government, following the "Week of German Solar Power Technology Training," a delegation of eight German companies in the field of solar energy visited and worked in Ho Chi Minh city.
On this occasion, the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam (GIC/AHK Vietnam) in cooperation with the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) organized a seminar entitled "Solar Power: Large scale and distributed generation model for the Vietnamese industry ", in Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City, helping to connect business partners as well as experts and consultants in this field.
The development of solar energy in Vietnam is attracting attention from many foreign investors, including German companies. The workshop provided opportunities for Vietnamese and German businesses to see each other's strengths, thereby promoting cooperation and joint development in this potential field as well as business development in general.
Mr. Andreas Siegel - Consul General of Germany in Ho Chi Minh City said that this is an opportunity for 8 German companies to introduce their advanced technology products and services as well as their capabilities to Vietnamese partners. German companies have the capacity and know-how of high technology, so cooperation between the two countries is very appropriate and mutually beneficial. And he hoped that, through this workshop, the two sides exchanged openly to find a specific, potential partner for his company.
According to GIC/AHK Vietnam, Germany developed solar power in 1990, by the end of 2016, Germany had 41,000 megawatts of solar power installed and put into use. In terms of output, Germany ranks 3rd in the world after China and Japan, and ranks 6th in the world for new installations. A German company with modern machinery and technology, together with hands-on experience and a team of highly qualified consultants, will be ready to assist the Vietnamese company in developing this field.
Pham Trong Thuc, Director of New and Renewable Energy Department, General Department of Energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that Decision No. 11/2017/QD-TTg on the development of solar energy in Vietnam and Circular 16/2017/TT-BCT will help domestic and foreign investors understand on detail of the policies and mechanisms to support the development of solar power in Vietnam. Accordingly, the buyer is responsible for purchasing all the electricity generated from grid-connected projects at the price of VND 2,086 per kWh equivalent to 9.35 Uscents per kWh. The term of the power purchase agreement for solar power projects is 20 years from the date of commercial operation. The Government of Vietnam aims to install 850 MW of solar power by 2020, 4 GW by 2025 and 12 GW by 2030.
From the practical experience of developing solar power projects in Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Dzung, representative of Power Engineering 3 Consulting Joint Stock Company (PECC3), said that Vietnam was assessed to possess large potential of solar power with about 843 million MWh per year, estimated by the United States Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Currently, solar power projects are concentrated in the central and southern regions as the average solar radiation in these two regions is about 4.9 kWh/m2/day, while reaching 3.7 kWh/m2/day in the northern region. Currently, there are more than 100 solar power projects registered in Vietnam. Of which, Binh Thuan has 37 projects with a total registered capacity of 4,250 MWp; Ninh Thuan has 40 projects with a total registered capacity of 3,700 MWp; Dak Lak has 13 projects with a total registered capacity of 6,483 MWp; Khanh Hoa has 12 projects with a total registered capacity of 1,900 MWp; and projects in other provinces such as An Giang, Long An, Ben Tre and Soc Trang. Dung further shared that developing successful solar projects requires a combination of capability of domestic consultants and support from international consultants.
Therefore, this area will create a lot of opportunities for Vietnamese and German companies to work together. Tobias Cossen, GIZ representative, believes that cooperation between the two sides will benefit the solar power projects in Vietnam when the expertise, quality and practical experience from Germany is combined with insight of natural conditions here.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy development is one of the focusing areas in the Vietnamese-German bilateral development cooperation, of which GIZ implements technical cooperation. Mr. Cossen expressed, in his capacity, GIZ is ready to cooperate and support any business and organization interested in this field.
CPSI office