HO CHI MINH CITY -- Coal use in Vietnam is expected to rise for the foreseeable future, increasing the country's electric power capacity but clouding its long-term energy transition plans.
By 2050, Vietnam hopes to ditch coal and hit net-zero emissions, but its energy plan also raises coal-based electricity capacity to 30,000 megawatts by 2030. This would decrease coal's ratio in the power mix but still result in an increase in absolute capacity from 2020, when coal-fired output was closer to 20,000 MW, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration.