HCMC – A new price list for solar power in Vietnam will take effect from May 22, with the highest buying price being set at VND1,943 per kilowatt hour (kWh), equivalent to 8.38 U.S. cents per kWh.
According to Decision 13/2020, issued on April 6, on preferential policies to encourage investment in solar energy in Vietnam, the feed-in tariff—referring to the price of electricity sold to the national grid—for floating solar power projects will be VND1,783 per kWh (7.69 U.S. cents per kWh).
The feed-in tariffs for ground-mounted and rooftop solar power systems are VND1,644 per kWh (7.09 U.S. cents per kWh) and VND1,943 per kWh (8.38 U.S. cents per kWh), respectively.
As for the south-central province of Ninh Thuan, the preferential buying price of VND2,086 per kWh (9.35 U.S. cents per kWh) will be applied to solar power projects that have been added to the national power scheme and scheduled for commercial operation before January 1, 2021.
The feed-in tariffs regulated in Decision 13 will be valid for 20 years from the date that a solar power project is put into commercial service.
Under Decision 13, if the electricity buyer is not the Vietnam Electricity Group or an authorized unit, the buyer and seller can negotiate feed-in tariffs and power purchase agreements in line with prevailing regulations.
Further, Decision 13’s feed-in tariffs for floating, ground-mounted and rooftop solar power projects are lower than the preferential price of 9.35 U.S. cents per kWh regulated in Decision 11/2017, which was in effect until June 30, 2019.
Le Ngoc Anh Minh, chairman of Pacific Group, which has built solar power projects in the country, told the Saigon Times that the new price list is appropriate to encourage more investors to develop clean energy projects, increase the output of renewable power and curb the growth of coal-fired thermal power plants that have polluted the environment.
