The global energy landscape is in transition towards more flexible and sustainable energy systems. As the cost of renewables continues to decline, the number of new investments into coal-fired plants and other inflexible baseload technologies is decreasing. Vietnam has emerged as the hotspot for clean energy investment within Southeast Asia, driven by solar developments with cumulative installations expected to reach more than 5 GW in 2020.
Currently, Vietnam’s power system is facing various challenges: lack of an adequate supply of electricity to meet growing demand, environmental pollution, and delays in large thermal power plant projects. As the share of renewable energy (RE) will continue to increase, Vietnam’s power system will face new challenges in maintaining system reliability, resilience, and stability. Without adequate and detailed planning, the overall cost of generation may increase, despite the addition of lower cost RE.