Vietnam needs US$133.3 billion to invest in new power plants and transmission networks from 2021 to 2030, according to Vice Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong.

Vietnam needs US$133.3 billion investment in power projects by 2030. Photo: GIZ

At the second conference on the National Power Development Plan VIII (PDP) VIII for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2045 on September 28, the Vietnam Energy Institute (VEI) reported that of the total investment, US$96 billion will be spent on new power plants and US$37.3 billion on expanding the power grid. It means the country needs an annually an amount of US$13.3 billion for investment in new power plants and transmission networks in the next 10 years. 

Deputy Minister Vuong told the conference that according to the power source development program until 2030, the total power capacity is expected to increase by 80,000MW, of which fossil fuel power stations would generate 30,000MW and the other 30,000MW will be obtained from renewables.  

However, most of these sources are located far from the transmission centers, posing great challenges for the power industry, Mr. Vuong said. 

Current challenges include the increasing power demand, the imbalance in generation and demand among regions, the slow construction pace of many large power projects, especially coal-fired thermal power projects. The new PDP VIII aims to address those challenges and develop the electricity sector.

The country’s demand for electricity is forecast to annually rise 8.6% during the 2021-2025 period, and 7.2% in the 2026-2030 period, compared to 10.5% over the past decade, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

In the structure of energy sources, coal energy is expected to decrease and while liquefied natural gas energy would rise to international commitments.

According to the MoIT, the implementation of the new PDP is complicated. The MoIT estimates that Vietnam will import 1.2 million tons of LNG and 35.1 million tons of coal by 2025, 8.5 million tons of LNG and 45 million tons of coal by 2030 to fuel power plants.

Earlier, the MoIT planned to submit the PDP VIII and the National Energy Development Master Plan to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in October and by the end of 2020, respectively.