Hanoi (VNA) – The Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF)’s GoverningCouncil has approved 1.5 million USD in funding for the World Bank (WB) and Vietnam tocarry out the Solar Pilot Auction Programme, the WB said on December 18.

The GIF, working with the World Bank’s Energy Global Practice, will help thegovernment to design and structure the Auction Programme to transition from afeed-in tariff regime to a sustainable competitive auction scheme for solargeneration.

The programme will help to address Vietnam’s increased demand for energy andpromote inclusive growth by strengthening the enabling environment for theprivate sector.

World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Ousmane Dione said that the World Bankis working closely with the Vietnamese Government to bring more privateresources to the energy sector where the needs are huge and urgent.

The GIF’s support comes at a critical time to help the country overcomemultiple remaining obstacles to further develop solar power, includingfinancing and risk allocation, he added.    
The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Solar Competitive BiddingProgramme is part of the government’s broader efforts to accelerate investmentsin energy efficiency and renewable energy to increase the country’sdiversification of electricity generation and reduce CO2 emissions. The countryaims to bring 12 GW of solar energy onto the grid by 2030.

Head of the GIF Jason Lu said that this would be the first solar energy auctionprogramme to be implemented in Vietnam, which would have large scalereplicability, stating the GIF is pleased to support the Vietnamese Government inmobilising private financing through standardized, transparent and programmaticapproaches.

While Vietnam’s economic outlook remains robust, with a forecast of 6.5 percent growthin 2020 and 2021, it faces many challenges in meeting itsinfrastructure needs, particularly in the energy sector that faces growingdemand.

The country is actively seeking to attract private investment and use morepublic-private partnerships in the energy sector, but needs to adapt itscurrent framework to enable competitive selection of independent powerproducers and minimise the cost of solar power generation. With the support ofthe World Bank and the GIF, the Vietnamese Government is developing competitivebidding schemes to deploy utility-scale solar power./.