On Wednesday, Da Nang People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh met with a group from the World Bank (WB) to discuss the deployment of a local rooftop solar power programme.

Mr Knight (left) and Vice Chairman Minh

Mr Oliver Knight, a senior energy expert for the WB’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme, remarked that, since late 2015, WB and the Ministry of Science and Technology have jointly discussed the implementation of a solar power development project across the country.  Viet Nam is targeting to reach a solar power capacity of 12 GWp by 2030. 

In particular, WB has suggested giving technical assistance to Da Nang in order to install solar panels on 150 local rooftops.  Under the city’s programme, the focus will be on assisting the city in making an overall assessment of the benefits of the programme, conducting field surveys, creating satellite-based maps, and evaluating the environmental impacts.

Mr Knight underlined that his unit is willing to cooperate with the city authorities in implementing this practical programme in the city.

In reply, Vice Chairman Minh affirmed that Da Nang has always shown a special concern for promoting the use of solar power and other clean energy resources.  He asked the municipal Department of Industry and Trade to coordinate with WB to implement the rooftop solar power programme.

The local authorities and WB will jointly continue discussing specific ways to effectively carry out the programme in the near future.

Currently, the city is cooperating with American, German and Spanish partners to implement solar power projects with a total capacity of 2.8 million MW.