On November 12, 2018, over 30 representatives, namely Vietnamese rooftop solar project developers and engineering service companies, participated in the German Training Week – Project Development (GTWPD) in Ho Chi Minh City. Lasting on November 12-16, the training week was organized by GIZ’s Project Development Programme (PDP) in cooperation with the Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam (GIC/AHK) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) within the German Energy Solutions Initiative framework.

Participants had opportunities to gain in-depth knowledge on technical, commercial and legal aspects on how to develop rooftop solar PV projects that will attract international investors and meet lenders’ requirements in order to accelerate the realization of embedded solar PV in Viet Nam. Especially, all necessary building blocks of a project proposal at international standards were introduced at the training.

“With the GTWPD, we aim to support Vietnamese enterprises to benefit from the expertise of German companies in developing and applying rooftop solar PV technologies. The training week also provides a platform for technology and knowhow transfer as well as facilitating business partnerships between companies from Germany and Viet Nam”, says Mr. Simon Bittner, Business Development Advisor from GIZ PDP.

The Vietnamese solar market is currently considered by international private sector stakeholders as one of the most dynamic and potential solar markets in the region after the first solar legislation, namely Decision 11/2017/QD-TTg was introduced in April 2017. The country’s first solar power plant of 35MW in Thua Thien Hue province has been put into operation since October this year and many more are under development.

Decision 11 also laid out an incentive legal framework to attract private investment in another highly potential segment: rooftop solar PV for commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers, with many projects in the pipeline. However, limited financing capacity of local clients and lack of experience in project development of Vietnamese solar developers, hence lack of bankable projects for international financing, are the main barriers for realizing rooftop solar projects in Viet Nam.