Prospects to promote Vietnam-Korea bilateral cooperation in energy

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, Mr. Hoang Quoc Vuong and Mr. Moon Hwan Cha, President of Hanwha Q-Cells at the meeting

During the meeting, the two sides spent time to review major features of the energy’s industry and market of Vietnam. The two sides agreed that with the increasing demand for energy in the coming period, Vietnam will need an additional electric amount of 1GW each year and will find it difficult to continue relying on its traditional energy sources such as hydro- and thermal-power.

The Deputy Minister stated that, with recognition of the risks of over-reliance on traditional energy sources as well as of the necessary to promote new/renewable forms of energy that are more durable and environment friendly, the Government of Vietnam issued the Master Plan for development of renewable energy until 2030 with a vision to 2050. Thereby, Vietnam aims to raise the contribution rate of new/renewable energy to the grid system from 1 to 6 percent in 15 years.

To achieve this goal, MOIT is coordinating with the other ministries and agencies of Vietnam to propose suitable policies and mechanisms to support the development of renewable energy. MOIT strongly suggests that enterprises and investors like Hanwha Q-Cells should utilize this window to conduct field surveys, discuss with local authorities of the highly potential areas in advances.
Mr. Moon Hwan Cha proudly informed that Hanwha Q-Cells is among the largest multinational corporations from Korea and has technological competitiveness in terms of solar energy. Solar energy, in basis, has advantages over other forms of energy thanks to its durability and stability while being eco-friendly and quick/easy to set up. Hanwha Q-Cells so far has setup solar fields in Korea, China and Malaysia with total installed capacity of 5.5GW/year and 400MW/year in average for each unit’s capacity.

The President of Hanwha Q-Cells also informed that the company has recently conducted several field surveys in Vietnam and identified a number of areas in the Southern Middle part and the Southern part of Vietnam (including Binh Thuan, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh) have higher and more stable irradiations and temperatures than the rest which makes them exclusively ideal for the setting up of solar fields. The company speculated that once a Vietnamese partner is found, it would take 6 months to finish negotiation and 2 more years to set up a fields with installed capacity of 500MW/year in an approximately 500ha-area.

In conclusions, Mr. Hoang Quoc Vuong presented the willingness of MOIT in supporting foreign investors with high financial mobility like Hanwha Q-Cells to come and contribute to the energy sector of Vietnam and ensured that MOIT will facilitate to promote energy cooperation between the two countries in general and between Hanwha Q-Cells with its potential Vietnamese partners in the future./.

Source: International Cooperation Department