Vietnam is planning a drastic turnaround in energy policy, focusing on renewable energy, reported klimaretter.info, a German magazine specialising in climate change and energy transition, on March 28.

The magazine noted that from now to 2020, Vietnam will raise solar power capacity to 850 megawatts (MW) and increase wind power capacity to at least 800 MW.

Currently, the share of the two power sources plays no significant role in Vietnam, where more than 93 percent of the electricity output is produced from fossil and hydropower sources. However, the average solar radiation to produce electricity in Vietnam is about four times as large as in Germany, said the magazine.

Wind power turbines in Bac Lieu province

The article also noted that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has recently launched a plan on developing a national grid, which is set to revolutionise the energy policy.

Vietnam is one of the new "tigers" in Asia , with high rate of annual economic growth, according to the article.

As in industrialised countries, economic growth brings about an increase of energy consumption. The annual energy production has increased more than tenfold from 1990 to 2014, klimaretter.info noted.

Accordingly, the greenhouse exhaust fumes per capita in Vietnam have risen to an average of 1.7 tons of CO2 per year.

By comparison, the figure in Germany is 9.5 tons.

Source: VNA