Vietnam’s PM approves $135 billion power plan for 2030

• 1 year, 7 months ago (2023-05-16)
• David Flin

Asia 899 Coal 301 Emissions 65

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Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of Vietnam, has approved a $134.7 billion power plan for this decade for new power plants and grid networks.

The plan, known as PDP8, aims to ensure energy security for Vietnam while it begins to transition from its current heavy reliance on coal to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The plan needs the formal approval from the parliament, which should take place later this month.

The plan is important to unlock an initial investment of $15.5 billion in green transition funds pledged to Vietnam by the G7 nations. Half of the funds will come from the public sector and the rest from private investors.

The Vietnam Government has said that to complete its transition to carbon neutrality by 2050, it will need international grants of $658 billion, with 20 per cent being disbursed this decade.

A draft version of PDP8 indicated that the plan would more than double the country’s power generation capacity from 69 GW at the end of 2020 to 158 GW by 2030. The main source of power generation will be using natural gas, both domestic and imported LNG. This will account for nearly 25 per cent of the power generation mix. Coal will account for 19 per cent, hydropower 18.5 per cent, wind 17.6 per cent, and solar 13 per cent.