Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo witness the exchange of cooperation documents between EVN and GE

Major opportunities

On June 6, 2022, US President Joe Biden ordered emergency measures to boost crucial supplies to US solar power manufacturers and declared a 24-month tariff exemption for solar panels manufactured in four Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam.

Subsequently, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at US Department of Commerce Pamela Phan led a US delegation to meet leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee in order to seek ways to boost bilateral ties in clean energy development. Phan said US businesses are seeking opportunities to develop clean energy in Vietnam and provide the country with security services to protect local energy systems, while expanding investment in Ho Chi Minh City.

During a May 11 visit to Washington, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received leaders of the Asia Group, Blackstone, GenX and AES and urged them to focus research and investment on wind and solar power and tidal energy, which have great development potential in Vietnam. Representatives of the US corporations, for their part, expressed interest in energy transition projects in Vietnam and in helping Vietnam realize its strong commitments at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) last year in Glasgow.

Fair, transparent mechanism

Dao Du Duong, head of the Representative Office of the Vietnam Clean Energy Association in Ho Chi Minh City, said Vietnam has great potential for renewable energy development, such as wind and solar power, and the Vietnamese government is making greater efforts to promote its development and perfect the power transmission system.

Ho Chi Minh City has room for rooftop solar power in industrial zones. In addition, 50 provinces and cities have submitted their proposals to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to include a total capacity of 550,000MW of all kinds of electricity in the draft Power Development Plan VIII. These include 129,000MW of offshore wind power, 106,000MW of onshore wind power, 140,000MW of liquefied natural gas (LNG) power, and 118,000 MW of farm-scale solar power.

However, provinces and cities need to adopt a fair and transparent competition mechanism. For the bidding of renewable energy projects, provinces and cities need to participate in the process and accompany investors.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, attended the signing ceremony of a memorandum of cooperation for the 2022-2027 period between Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and General Electric (GE). The MoU calls for developing cooperation opportunities in power generation and transmission, exchanging information on new technologies applicable to the US electrical system, and training and services for new gas-fired power projects.

Ha Duyen