Sydney (VNA) – The increase in thesolar plus wind share of the electricity mix in Vietnam in 2020 was much fasterthan the pace seen in the Asia-Pacific region or the world as a whole,according to a research jointly implemented by  the Australian National University, the Norwegian Institute ofInternational Affairs, the ASEAN Centre for Energy and the National Economics University of Vietnam.

According to the research, Vietnam's solar and windelectricity generation rose from 4.7 TWh in 2019 to 9.5 TWh in 2020. Thisequaled a 1.98 percentage point increase in the share of total electricitygeneration.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Singapore, andIndonesia saw smaller increases, while the solar plus wind share of theelectricity mix actually declined in Thailand and the Philippines due torelatively stagnant uptake of these renewables and rapid growth in use of otherelectricity sources.

Since 2019, Vietnam has emerged as the leader in solar andwind electricity adoption in the ASEAN region. The country overtook Thailand andhad the largest installed solar and wind capacity in 2019.

The research cited statistics from the International Renewable EnergyAgency (IREA) showing that Vietnam's total capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV)reached about 16,500 megawatts (MW) by the end of 2020. This far surpassed the original2020 target of 850 MW set by the Government of Vietnam in 2016, and is evenapproaching the tentative target of 18,600 MW of installed solar power capacityby 2030 that appears in the draft version of Vietnam's Power Development Plan 8.

According to the Electricity of Vietnam, more than 100,000rooftop solar PV systems were installed in Vietnam in 2019 and 2020, which was anextraordinary achievement.

Meanwhile, installed wind power capacity reached 600 MW bythe end of 2020, behind only Thailand (1,507 MW) among the ASEAN countries. In2020, Vietnam's annual wind power capacity growth rate was 70 percent, whilethe other ASEAN countries did not expand their wind capacity.

Vietnam has the most ambitious wind power development plan in ASEAN, with atentative target of 11,800 MW of wind power capacity by 2025. The targets ofThailand and the Philippines are about 3,000 MW by 2036 and 2,378 MW by 2030,respectively.

The common enabling factors for solar and wind uptake inVietnam include political and social support, incentive instruments, supportingregulations, and overall investment attractiveness, according to the research.

Dr. Do Nam Thang from the Australian National University, amember of the research group, said that switching to renewable energy is anobvious trend, especially when financial sources for fossil fuels are being cutdown globally. He held that policy determination and social consensus are amongkey factors behind Vietnam’s success in the field./.