Vietnam's rooftop photovoltaic policy has turned around

July 29, 2024

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha has instructed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to study the option of buying rooftop solar energy and report by Thursday.

But the government does not want to buy more than 10% of each system’s capacity, he said.

This is an unexpected reversal within a month’s time: a draft of a proposed decree the ministry issued last month said it "will not buy rooftop solar power in any form" except from projects approved under National Power Development Plan 8.

It had said that since rooftop solar generation is unstable and the units are costly to operate they are only encouraged for household use.

But analysts had said in reply that the government should buy a portion of rooftop power though with a purchase limit to stop sellers from taking advantage of the national grid.

There are around 103,000 rooftop solar systems in Vietnam with a total capacity of 9,500 megawatts.

By 2030 the government wants them installed at 50% of workplaces and households.

By vnexpress