HCM City has huge potential for developing solar power, especially rooftop. (Photo: VNA)HCM City — The Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation plans to soon connect all rooftopsolar power to the electricity grid.
BuiTrung Kien, its deputy general director, said that to incentivise individualsand commercial entities to invest in rooftop solar, the corporation (EVNHCMC)has put up on its website registration procedures and conditions for connectionto the national grid, the list of substations and lines that have notreached full capacity, and details about how much rooftop solar powercapacity can still be connected to the grid in each district.
Now nosubstation faces an overload, and all of its 638 22kv lines can be linked withrooftop solar systems in the city to release the latter’s capacity rapidly.
EVNHCMCis speeding up the upgrade of its medium-voltage grid to 110KV to increase itscapacity to encourage more people to invest in rooftop solar.
As ofnow the city has 9,568 rooftop solar power systems.
In2020-25 the country is expected to face a power shortage, and so thecorporation is seeking to encourage rooftop solar.
Soonthe installed capacity is expected to increase, especially systems with acapacity of 1MWp or more, as people take advantage of the Government’sincentives for rooftop solar.
EVNHCMCsaid renewable energy now accounts for 2 percent of the city’s total capacity,but needs to be increased to meet the growing demand from socio-economicdevelopment and urbanisation.
Thecity has huge potential for solar power, especially rooftop, it said.
TheWorld Bank estimated the city to have total potential of 6,300 MWp, and saidrooftop solar could be developed rapidly with proper policies.
As of the beginning ofSeptember, there were nearly 50,000 rooftop solar power systems in the countrywith a total capacity of nearly 1,200 MWp./.
