$3.3b Investment in Vietnam Solar

Vietnam's Daklak Province on Saturday granted licenses and signed memoranda of understanding for the development of several solar power projects worth a combined $3.3 billion. Vietnam has been mostly reliant on coal-fired and hydro power plants to accommodate its annual electricity demand growth of around 11%, but wants to boost its renewable energy output amid rising resources scarcity and environmental issues, Reuters reported. US group AES Corporation signed a preliminary agreement with the province to invest $750 million in a solar plant with expected capacity of 300-500 megawatts. Vietnamese private firm Xuan Thien Daklak on Saturday received a provincial government license to invest $2.2 billion in a 2,000-megawatt solar power project in Daklak in the central highlands. South Korea's Solar Park Global also received a certificate to invest $45 million in a solar power project and Vietnamese Long Thanh Infrastructure Development and Investment Company will invest $308 million in a 250-megawatt solar plant.