Backed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Vietnam has proposed launching tenders for 400 MW of floating solar projects in the country. Renewable energy developers will be able to bid for 50-100 MW under the first batch and 300 MW in the second batch. The ADB is looking for six consultants with environmental, social, and financial expertise to support the auction. Both the plants will be located at hydropower facilities owned by the Da Mi Hydropower Joint Stock Co division of national electric utility, Viet Nam Electricity.
The current announcement comes after the country made a switch to a new auction mechanism that will support large-scale solar projects which could not secure a feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme contract in the previous year. In December 2020, Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a circular urging the regional governments to suspend new approvals for large-scale solar projects under the FiT scheme. As of January 2021, about 8.93 GW of solar projects were approved of 4.5 GW of projects came online under the scheme in 2020.
Vietnam has enormous potential for floating solar projects across its vast hydroelectric power network. In January 2021, the Toji group announced the commissioning of two large-scale floating solar parks, Ho Tam Bo and Ho Gia Hoet 1 with a combined capacity of 70 MWp in the Chau Duc district of Vietnam. In October 2019, the ADB supplied $37 million for a 47 MW floating power project in the Bin Thuan Province of the country.