Dong Nai plans mega solar power production on manmade lake

One of these projects will have a capacity of 1,500 MW, two of them 1,000 MW each and one, 600 MW. 

In their proposal submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Dong Nai authorities have said the projects will be located on the Tri An Lake, a manmade lake created by the 400 MW Tri An Hydropower Plant, over 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the northwest of Ho Chi Minh City.

Most of these projects will exceed the capacity of the current largest solar power in Southeast Asia, the 420 MW Dau Tieng Solar Power Complex in the southern Tay Ninh Province, which started production earlier this month.

The projects, if approved by the government, will double the capacity of all solar power plants in the country, which reached almost 4,500 MW by the end of June.

Dong Nai has great potential for solar power development with an average sunshine hours of 1,900 a year, according to the province’s department of industry and trade.

Vietnam saw rapid construction of new renewable power plants in the first half of this year as investors sought to beat a June 30 deadline to enjoy price incentives of 9.35 U.S. cents per kWh feed-in tariff for the next 20 years.

89 projects began operation as of June, and another 400 are pending approval, according to the trade ministry.

Registered capacity of solar power projects in the country has reached 25,000 MW, far exceeding the government’s initial target to have 4,000 MW by 2025.

Renewables curerntly account for 9 percent of Vietnam's energy mix, already surpassing the target of 7 percent set for next year, according to the country's sole power utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN).