Carbon Benchmarks
As Banks Shun Coal, Vietnam Emerges an Unlikely Solar Champion
Even countries with weak climate goals are getting swept up in the global clean energy transition.
The combination of intermittent solar power and Vietnam’s creaky grid means some areas have too much power while other regions still face possible blackouts.
Photographer: Yen Duong/Bloomberg
Nguyen Tuan was watching the sun shine down on his four-hectare cantaloupe farm in southern Vietnam when he realized it could do more than help his crops grow.
The 46-year-old installed 40 solar panels on greenhouses at his farm 55 miles outside of Ho Chi Minh City. Thanks to generous subsidies from the national utility, he not only cut his power bill but now earns about two million dong ($87) a month selling excess electricity to the nation’s grid.