With the demand for electricity growing at a rapid rate every year in the country, Vietnam is now looking into renewed energy sources to shave off its energy bill by about 20 to 30 percent in the next ten years. Inviting other countries like Finland, Germany, Denmark, Japan and a few other prospects to invest into green and renewable energy projects in their country, Vietnam expects that if such projects are carried out successfully, will account for close to 10 percent of its total energy consumption. To encourage investments, especially from private energy developers, the Ministry or Industry and Trade, along with other concerned agencies, are presently working on regulations they could propose to the administration which would help facilitate and accommodate these ventures quicker.

Majority of Vietnam’s electricity are sourced out mainly from hydropower which has less pollution versus thermal power plants. That has been that way for a long time now until some years back when the country supplemented its energy source through coal-fired power plants to feed its urgent electricity needs the recent few years. Since coal is always a reliable solution, Vietnam plans to increase its production in the next few years while improving the technology employed by coal-fired plants to counter the pollution and emissions from its production process. But the concern over the increase reliance on coal seen to impact greatly on pollution is still a subject that needs to be looked into at a greater depth.

As even Vietnam admits that carbon emissions and global warming are truly serious threats, they are looking into the great possibility that most of their much needed electricity supplement could come from wind. Being among the developing countries most likely to be affected by the negative effects of climate change, especially with the present state of the Mekong and Red River deltas, Vietnam hopes to produce a huge amount of electricity, over 500 gigawatts if possible, from land-based and off-shore wind farms. But Industry and Trade Minster Vu Huy Hoang stressed that the idea needs to be considered carefully because of the high price involved in producing power from wind, estimated at double the cost of hydropower and thermal power plants. With such high cost, wind investors will find it hard to sell wind energy at a profitable margin.

Apart from what are presently considered, other renewable energy technology considerations are lagging in as well. With the demand for energy rising almost beyond control, Vietnam realizes that conservation efforts have to be initiated as quickly as possible. As Vietnamese government lacks the fund to subsidize wind or other renewable energy sources at a large scale, it hopes to develop a solution to meet the financial incentives for wind investors. For now, the promise of wind energy in Vietnam has yet to materialize.