Options for wind power in Vietnam by 2030

Vietnam has an excellent wind resource, and the cost of producing electricity from wind has decreased continuously over the last decade. After the feed in tariff for onshore wind power was raised to 8.5 UScents / kWh in 2018, the sector is finally taking off. The inventory of existing onshore wind power projects in Vietnam shows that the sector is on track to meet the government targets for 2020 and 2025. We explored three scenarios for wind power development in Vietnam up to 2030 and conclude that the wind power installed capacity by that year could be 12-15 GW onshore, 10-12 GW offshore. The policy implications are that first, the next power development plan of Vietnam provides an important opportunity to increase at low costs the level of ambition of wind power development. Second, flexibility should be the guiding principle of that plan. Third, to realize the large potential of offshore wind power, infrastructure planning has to start soon.