Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) is seeking investors in new electricity projects, including solar power plants on reservoirs, in an effort to ensure the safe and stable operation of the country’s electricity market.

Home to nearly 7,000 reservoirs covering millions of square kilometres, Vietnam has the conditions necessary to develop solar power plants on water surfaces, with total capacity amounting to 15,000 MW.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep, the Ministry has received numerous proposals for solar power plants on reservoirs over the last three months.

The 420 MWp solar power plant in the semi-flooded area of Dau Tieng Reservoir in southern Tay Ninh province and another with a capacity of 47.5 MWp on the Da Mi Reservoir in south-central Binh Thuan province are the first of their kind in the country and are operating successfully.

These projects have safely churned out commercial electricity for the national power grid, said Nguyen Dinh Chien, Deputy Director of the Da Nhim-Ham Thuan-Da Mi Hydropower JSC in Binh Thuan.

According to Hoang Tien Dung, Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority, as at May 11, 6,000 MW of solar and wind power had been turned out commercially.

Some solar and wind power plants have been transferred partially or fully to foreign investors from Thailand, the Philippines, and China, he added. 

Regulations allowing private and foreign investors to engage in electricity development without Government guarantee have made the sector more appealing to investors.

Under its production and business plan for 2016-2020, EVN is to diversify the mobilising of capital at home and abroad and effectively use State budget funds for site clearance in service of power projects.

EVN Director General Tran Dinh Nhan said the group will continue to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to accelerate the capacity release of the solar power projects, which are scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of this year.