Vietnam may double the amount of coal-fired electric generation it installs by 2030 under a draft power development plan submitted to the prime minister for approval recently.
The draft plan guarantees that Vietnam will become more reliant on coal to power its fast-growing economy at a time when financiers and insurers are refusing to back new projects.
Coal-fired power plants will account for up to 31.4% of as much as 143.8 gigawatts (GW) of installed generation capacity planned in 2030, according to the Power Development Plan 8 (PDP 8).
That translates to about 41 GW of coal power by the end of the decade, up from 20.7 GW out of 69 GW of capacity from all sources as of 2020, according to the plan.
Vietnam, with a population of 98 million, is seeking to boost its power generation to support the growth of production bases for firms such as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics Inc.
The country will need to invest $116 billion in new power plants and power grid expansions to 2030, and up to $227.4 billion to 2045, when installed capacity may be up to 329.6 GW, according to the plan.
Natural gas, including liquefied natural gas, will make up 22.4% of installed capacity by 2030 from 13% at the end of 2020 and then rise to as much as 26.9% by 2045, while coal slips to only as much as 19.4% by then.
