Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)Ninh Thuan (VNA) - The central province of Ninh Thuanaims to become a renewable-energy centre of the country, withassistance from the central government's preferential policies.
Bui Nhat Quang, Vice Chairman of the VietnamAcademy of Social Sciences, said at a recent conference on renewable energyheld in the province that the development of renewable energy such as wind andsolar energy has become a necessity in a time of depleting natural resourcessuch as fossil fuels.
Experts noted that the province should becareful about building too many wind and solar power plants as they couldoverwhelm the transmission capacity of the existing national grid in theprovince.
To solve the problem, the Government should buildmore 220-500KV transmission lines and stations to serve wind andsolar power plants in the province, they said.
Dr Nguyen Tat Thang, of the National EconomicsUniversity, said Ninh Thuan should also seek more investment capital, landand human resources to develop the projects.
The Government and the Ministry of Industry andTrade have approved 30 solar power projects in the province with total capacityof more than 1,800MW and total registered capital of over 50 trillionVND (2.13 billion USD).
Blessed with abundant sunshine and wind all yearround, Ninh Thuan province is currently home to 25 solar powerprojects.
The province has a high level of sunshinehours (2,467) per year and solar radiation per square metre (1,700kWh),making it ideal for solar energy projects.
Under Ninh Thuan’s green energy plan, by2030 the province is expected to reach a total capacityof 1,500MW in wind energy and 3,912MW in solarenergy.
To attract more renewable energy projects,provincial authorities are offering incentive policies to investors.
For example, renewable energy investors enjoy awaiver of land-lease fees for the entire project’s lifetime, as well ascorporate-tax exemption for the first four years and a corporate tax rate of 10percent for the next nine years, half the standard rate. The importtax for procurement of fixed assets in renewable projects will also bereduced to zero.
However, investment in renewable energy stillfaces challenges such as higher costs, complex technology, and legalbottlenecks, according to energy experts.
Pham Van Hau, Vice Chairman of the Ninh ThuanPeople’s Committee, said the provincial People’s Committee would continue todirect its agencies to work with investors to settle problems relatedto land clearance and business procedures.
When wind and solar energy projectsbegin commercial production, they will not onlyprovide significant contributions to Vietnam’s energy security, butalso contribute to local socio-economic development, he said.
Ninh Thuan leads the country in developingrenewable energy, with a total of eight wind and solar power projects alreadyin commercial operation.
In January, the BP Solar 1 solar power plantopened in the province, becoming the first Vietnamese-built solarpower project to be connected to the national grid.
The project, including transmission lines andtransformation stations, is expected to generate 74.45 million KWh peryear.-VNA
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