Conversations on Vietnam Development
Australian smarts and Chinese industrial might made solar power the cheapest power humanity has seen – and no one saw it coming
Royce Kurmelovs@RoyceRk2Sat 24 Apr 2021 21.00 BST
Tiếp tục đọc “‘Insanely cheap energy’: how solar power continues to shock the world”
America invented silicon solar cells in the 1950s. It spent more on solar R&D than any other country in the 1980s. It lost its technological advantage anyway.
American researchers experimented with unconventional solar-energy designs, such as this thermoelectric panel. (Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group / Getty)
You wouldn’t know it today, but the silicon photovoltaic solar cell—the standard, black-and-copper solar panel you can find on suburban rooftops and solar farms—was born and raised in America.
The technology was invented here. In 1954, three American engineers at Bell Labs discovered that electrons flow freely through silicon wafers when they are exposed to sunlight.
It was deployed here. In 1958, the U.S. Navy bolted solar panels to Vanguard 1, the second American satellite in space.
And for a time, it was even made here. In the 1960s and ’70s, American companies dominated the global solar market and registered most solar patents. As late as 1978, American firms commanded 95 percent of the global solar market, Tiếp tục đọc “Why the U.S. Doesn’t Dominate the Solar-Panel Industry Anymore”
HCMC-based energy firm Trungnam Group Friday has put its wind power plant in central Ninh Thuan Province into operation, considered the country’s largest to date.
The plant, which spreads over an area of 900 hectares in Thuan Bac District, has 45 turbines with a total capacity of 151.95 megawatts that costs VND4 trillion ($173.4 million), the Government portal reported.
The wind power plant is combined with a 204 MW solar power plant to form the solar-wind farm complex considered the largest in Southeast Asia. The complex will supply a total 950 million kWh per year for the country’s grid.
The private energy company has added a total 1,064 MW to the national grid comprising hydropower, solar and wind power. It plans to have a renewable output of nearly 10,000 MW by 2027.
Tran Quoc Nam, chairman of Ninh Thuan, said the province is now taking the lead with 32 solar power projects with a total capacity of 2,257 MW, and three wind power projects with an accumulative capacity of 329 MW.
Vietnam has great potential for renewable energy with its long coastline and 2,700 hours of sunshine a year on average.
Solar power currently accounts for just 0.01 percent of the country’s total power output, but the government plans to increase the ratio to 3.3 percent by 2030 and 20 percent by 2050.
Vietnam aims to produce 10.7 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030, mainly through solar and wind power projects.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam’s largest wind power plant enters operation”
By Dat Nguyen October 13, 2020 | 12:13 pm GMT+7 VNExpress
An aerial view of the 500kV substation of the Trung Nam Thuan Nam Solar Power Plant in the central province of Ninh Thuan. Photo courtesy of Trungnam Group.
The 450 megawatt Trung Nam Thuan Nam Solar Power Plant, which spreads over an area of nearly 560 hectares in Thuan Nam District, went on stream on Monday evening, 102 days after construction began in mid-May.
Tiếp tục đọc “Largest solar plant in Southeast Asia begins operating in Vietnam”By Dat Nguyen October 10, 2020 | 08:00 am GMT+7 VNExpress
An artist’s impression of a 257MW solar power plant backed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the central province of Phu Yen. Photo courtesy of the ADB.
The financing comprises a $27.9 million loan from the ADB, a $148.8 million syndicated loan funded by commercial banks with ADB as Lender of Record, and a $9.3 million loan provided by the Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP).
The loan will fund a 257-megawatt power plant in Phu Hoa District. The plant will be the largest single operating solar power plant in Vietnam and one of the largest in Southeast Asia, the ADB said in a statement.
It will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions every year by 123,000 tons while directly serving the electricity demand of Quang Ngai Province and Nha Trang Town in central Vietnam as well as surrounding areas.
Tiếp tục đọc “ADB backs $186 mln solar power plant in central Vietnam”27/08/2020 08:58 GMT+7 vietnamnet
Investors of solar power projects are concerned that they may fail to connect to the national grid and this be able to enjoy the preferential FIT (feed in tariff) of 7.09 cent per kwh.
Under current regulations, the price is only applied to projects which become operational and connect to the national grid no later than December 31, 2020.
Tiếp tục đọc “Solar power investors fear they may not be able to enjoy preferential FIT”By Anh Minh August 26, 2020 | 11:57 am GMT+7 vnexpress
Workers install solar power panels on a rooftop in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Electricity.
Le Anh Tuan, lecturer at Can Tho University in southern Can Tho City, spent VND130 million ($5,600) to install a 3.9 kWp rooftop solar power system in his home four years ago and is now enjoying the fruits of his investment.
Tuan was able to save up to VND1.2 million each month compared to using normal electricity, twice the amount of monthly deposit interests.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam sees rooftop solar boom”The Vietnamese authorities have submitted a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to request formal consultations with Washington over its recently announced 30% tariff on crystalline silicon PV imports.
The Ninh Thuan province is located in the south central coastal region of Vietnam and has some of the best solar conditions in the country.
Image: Nguyen Thanh Quang/Wikipedia
Hanoi joins China and South Korea in formally requesting compensation in its complaint over new U.S. safeguard measures on solar cell and module imports, which were announced in January. In late February, the governments of the Philippines and Malaysia also filed complaints, following similar moves by Singapore and the E.U.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam files complaint with WTO over US solar tariffs”
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| A solar power factory on Côn Đảo Island in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province. VNA/VNS Photo Ngọc Hà |
HCM CITY — Developing renewable energy sources is more urgent than ever to meet demand for power, ensure sustainable growth and cope with climate change in the country, experts said yesterday at a meeting held in HCM City.
Rainer Brohm, GIZ consultant, said that solar photovoltaic (PV) energy could replace expensive sources such as coal and gas and could quickly meet needed power capacity. Tiếp tục đọc “Renewable energy a must for Viet Nam”
To generate 1 MW of electricity, solar energy investors need 1.1 hectares of land. However, despite the large land fund needed, economists think that developing solar energy has many advantages.
As equipment, operation and maintenance costs are getting cheaper, solar energy is becoming more attractive than other types of clean energy.
| To generate 1 MW of electricity, solar energy investors need 1.1 hectares of land. However, despite the large land fund needed, economists think that developing solar energy has many advantages. |
Investors are pouring billions of dollars into clean energy projects in Binh Thuan province, which is bestowed by nature with abundance of wind and sun.
Up to 72 percent of Binh Thuan province’s area has solar radiation of over 5 kWh/m/day, the level high enough to make solar projects economically feasible. Tiếp tục đọc “Generating electricity with solar panels”
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| The solar power factory in Côn Đảo Island in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngọc Hà |
Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Opportunities to invest in Việt Nam’s solar energy sector are abundant after Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc issued a decision to encourage the development of solar power projects.
Under Decision 11/2017/QĐ-TTg, which takes effective from June 1, 2017, all output produced by solar power projects will be purchased for VNĐ2,086 (US 9.3 cent)/kWh (excluding VAT) – a profitable rate for investors. Tiếp tục đọc “Decision paves way for solar power development”
By Mai Nguyen
Reuters_Vietnam’s Daklak province on Saturday granted licences and signed memorandums of understanding for the development of several solar power projects worth a combined $3.3 billion.
Vietnam has been mostly reliant on coal-fired and hydro power plants to accommodate its annual electricity demand growth of around 11 percent, but wants to boost its renewable energy output amid rising resources scarcity and environmental issues.
U.S. group AES Corporation signed an memorandum of understanding with the province to invest $750 million in a solar plant with expected capacity of 300-500 megawatts.
Vietnamese private firm Xuan Thien Daklak on Saturday received a provincial government licence to invest $2.2 billion in a 2,000-megawatt solar power project in Daklak province in the Central Highlands.
South Korea’s Solar Park Global also received a certificate to invest $45 million in a solar power project and Vietnamese Long Thanh Infrastructure Development and Investment Company will invest $308 million in a 250-megawatt solar plant.
Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are seeking to secure sources of solar energy and have introduced targets to fire up green energy generation as global agreements to curb pollution take effect. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Sam Holmes)
bloomberg_Emerging markets are leapfrogging the developed world thanks to cheap panels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM-0lrIxCnE
http://players.brightcove.net/665003303001/4k5gFJHRe_default/index.html?videoId=5227294776001
Images have been released showing the sheer size of the new solar power plant in southern India.
The facility in Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu, has a capacity of 648 MW and covers an area of 10sq km.
This makes it the largest solar power plant at a single location, taking the title from the Topaz Solar Farm in California, which has a capacity of 550 MW. Tiếp tục đọc “India unveils the world’s largest solar power plant”
