Vietnam's PM approves $135 billion power plan for 2030
Business
Domestic gas and imported LNG plants would be the main energy source of the country by 2030
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's prime minister has approved a power plan that needs $134.7 billion of funding to develop new power plants and grids between 2021 and 2030, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said late on Monday.
The plan, known as PDP8, will ensure energy security for the Southeast Asian country based on projected annual gross domestic product growth of 7% during the period, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said half of office buildings and homes in Vietnam would be powered by rooftop solar panels by 2030. The country would also aim to generate green energy for exports, with a target of 5-10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.
The statement did not provide full details of the plan.
A draft of the PDP8 seen by Reuters shortly before the ministry statement showed the plan would more than double the country's power generation capacity to 158 GW by 2030 from 69 GW at the end of 2020.
Power plants using domestic gas and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) would be the main source of the country's power generation mix by 2030, accounting for 37.33 GW, or 23.6%, according to the draft.
Coal would account for 19% of the mix by 2030, followed by hydropower with 18.5%, wind energy with 17.6% and solar power 13.0%, according to the draft, which added the country would stop using coal to generate power by 2050.
The ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the draft.
