Vietnam wants to resume the path of nuclear energy to meet the growing needs of the industry
Vietnam is considering resuming nuclear energy development and boosting solar power generation capacity as it faces challenges related to the expansion of coal, gas, wind and hydropower.
At a recent meeting, the central government directed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to conduct a review of the projects outlined in the energy development plan for the period 2021-2030 with a vision to 2050, according to a statement dated 12 September. The PDP VIII implementation plan was approved only five months ago, in April, after long discussions and delays, and the MoIT is expected to conduct another review due to slow progress, particularly on LNG and offshore wind energy.
Delays in these projects could impact the electricity supply needed for Vietnam's economic growth which, forecast at more than 7% per year, requires a 12-15% annual increase in energy production, the government.
The other solution is the development of nuclear power, which is used by 32 countries and accounts for 9.1% of global energy production in 2023, the MoIT said.
Vietnam has not included nuclear in PDP VIII, but should consider small modular reactors (SMRs) , including floating reactors, with a capacity of 300 MW each that can be built in 24-36 months.
To speed up the legal framework for energy projects, the government established a working group led by Industry and Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, with heads of state energy companies Petrovietnam and Vietnam Electricity (EVN).
Power plants in Vietnam
The group has been tasked with conducting a final review of the draft electricity law which is expected to be presented to the National Assembly for approval in October. The revised law will incorporate rules for the development of renewable energy, including new energy sources.
In 2016, Vietnam abandoned an ambitious plan to build the country's first two nuclear power plants, citing competitive energy prices, lower-than-expected electricity demand and high construction costs.
Project Delays In line with federal directives, MoIT is gathering feedback from various ministries, government agencies and state-owned energy companies to revise PDP VIII.
Vietnam's commercial electricity sales increased 13.7% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2024, exceeding annual growth expectations of 9.1% for 2021-2025 set in PDP VIII. However, development of coal, gas, offshore wind and hydropower has fallen short of expectations, according to the MoIT document.
PDP VIII caps 30.13 GW of coal-fired power capacity by 2030, allowing for the development of an additional 3.383 GW from projects already under construction. The MoIT has said new coal projects are not viable due to local opposition and lack of financial support.
Under the energy plan, Vietnam aims to increase hydropower capacity to 29,346 GW from the current 22,878 GW, which carries risks related to natural disasters, climate change and other unforeseen challenges, the ministry said.
Furthermore, under PDP VIII, it will be challenging to increase wind power capacity to 21,880 GW by 2030. Currently, onshore and nearshore wind stands at 3,061 GW; reaching 6 GW of offshore wind by 2030 is almost impossible, given that no offshore plants have currently been approved. Building 1 GW of offshore wind is estimated to cost around $2.5 billion and take six to eight years, the MoIT said.
Regarding LNG, under PDP VIII, Vietnam plans to develop 13 LNG-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 22.4 GW by 2030, but there are currently none operational. The first 750 MW LNG plant, Nhon Trach 3, is expected to begin testing on October 15 and the 750 MW Nhon Trach 4 two months later, project promoter PV Power said on August 30.
A short-term solution is the expansion of solar power, which can be installed quickly, but in PDP VIII solar power is not a priority, with only 1.5 GW of new utility-scale capacity expected by 2030. The plan's solar target is 12,836 GW by 2030, excluding rooftop solar, and the ministry plans to further promote solar energy.
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The article Vietnam wants to resume the path of nuclear energy to meet the growing needs of the industry comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/il-vietnam-vuole-riprendere-la-strada-dellenergia-nucleare-per-soddisfare-le-crescenti-necessita-dellindustria/ on Sat, 14 Sep 2024 09:00:23 +0000.