A wind power farm in Phu Yen province. (Photo:VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - It is likely that Vietnam will have to reduce renewableenergy sources in the next five years, as booming development in recent yearswas weighing on the power system, according to a recent report by the Instituteof Energy.
The report showed that Vietnam’s power system had a total power generationcapacity of around 69 GW, including 21 GW of coal-fired power, 21 GW ofhydroelectricity, 9 GW of gas and oil – fired power, 17 GW of solar power, lessthan 1 GW each of wind power, biomass and imported energy.
The power generation capacity increased by an average of 12.9 percent per year,of which, coal-fired power increased at the highest rate of 18 percent peryear, followed by hydropower at 9.2 percent.
Solar and rooftop solar power saw dramatic rises in 2019-20. From a very modestlevel at the beginning of 2018, solar and wind power energy nowaccounts for nearly 26 percent of the system’s total capacity. Meanwhile,gas and oil – fired power have not seen many new developments over thepast decade.
The institute said that renewable energy has developed strongly in recentyears, driven by the Government’s encouraging policies under the PrimeMinister’s Decision No 11/2017/QĐ-TTg dated April 11, 2017 for solar power andthe Decision No 39/2018/QĐ-TTg dated September 10, 2018 for wind power.
The total solar capacity, including rooftop solar power, was estimated at16,500 MW as of the end of December 2020, accounting for 24.1 percent of thetotal capacity of the power generation system. Wind power capacity wasestimated at 567 MW, or 0.86 percent of the total power generation capacity.
However, these renewable energy generation sources were located unevenly,mostly in provinces in the central and southern regions where there is hugepotential for solar and wind power such as Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen,Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, An Giang and Long An.
The capacity of renewable energy generation sources approved to be included inthe planning to 2025 was estimated to total 25,500 MW, including 13,900 MW offarm solar power and 11,500 MW of wind power and excluding rooftop solar.
This means that about 5,000 MW of solar power and 6,144 MW of wind powerwithin the planning had not become operational.
As there was no specific information about the policies for renewable energydevelopment for the period after October 2021, the progress of theseprojects remained uncertain, the institute said.
The sudden increase in renewable energy supply has led to a number ofproblems in the operation of the grid, such as local overloading, full loadingand increasing the number of the system restarts and adjustments. In addition,the generation of renewable sources was unstable and heavily dependent of theweather conditions.
This might force Vietnam to reduce renewable energy generation in the next fiveyears, the institution said, adding that the solar power output which failed tobe put into use was estimated at 354 million kWh last year.
Vietnam Electricity (EVN) estimated the renewable power output whichmight fail to be put into use at 1.68 billion kWh this year and thissum must be reduced to ensure the safety for the power system.
According to EVN’s report, another 5,400 MW of wind power, 300 MW of solarpower and 3,000 MW of coal-fired power would be put into the system by the endof this year, bringing the total capacity of the power system to nearly 80 GW.This meant that wind and solar power would account for seven percent and 22 percentof the system, respectively.
The increase in solar and wind power supply would weigh on the power system,especially the transmission system in the central and southern regions andmight force Vietnam to reduce this source in the 2021-25 period.
According to the National Load Dispatch Centre, the power generation outputwhich might be reduced in the second half of this year was estimated at 1.7billion kWh.
The amount of renewable energy output which must be reduced in July – Septemberwas estimated at an average of 210 million kWh per month and 378 kWh per monthin October-December when the rainy reason hits the central and thesouthern regions, which would push up hydroelectricity output./.
VNA
