According to Circular No. 03/2025/TT-BTNMT issued by the then Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) at the end of February 2025, Viet Nam will conduct a nationwide baseline survey on renewable energy and new energy resources. This serves as an essential foundation for the country to attract and promote investment in the development of the renewable energy sector in the future.
The types of resources to be surveyed include solar power, wind power, geothermal power, wave and tidal power, electricity from municipal and urban solid waste, waste from production and business activities, biomass energy resources, and hydropower resources.
Accordingly, Viet Nam will collect and compile information and data, and conduct surveys, measurements, analyses, and assessments of these energy resources. The aim is to provide data on these resources' current status, characteristics, and potential to support power development, economic development planning, and resource management. This activity is part of Viet Nam’s strategic goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and promote sustainable development.
Priority areas
Regarding solar power, Viet Nam will conduct a baseline survey of solar energy resources across the entire territory. Priority will be given to areas with solar radiation intensity above 4.0 kWh/m²/day and regions with favorable conditions for solar power development, such as land designated for combined use with solar energy by land use laws; unused or vacant land not suitable for other socio-economic activities; rooftops and buildings with potential for rooftop solar systems; and areas near developed power grid infrastructure with the ability to connect to the existing or planned grid.
Regarding wind power, a comprehensive survey of wind energy resources will also be conducted nationwide. Priority will focus on areas with high wind potential, especially coastal plains, hilly and mountainous areas, plateaus, and offshore zones. Targeted locations include flat, obstacle-free, unused land unsuitable for other socio-economic activities; offshore areas with appropriate depth and distance for wind turbine installation and electricity transmission to shore; unused or unsuitable marine areas for other activities; and regions near developed power grids or planned grid connectivity.
Regarding geothermal energy, Viet Nam will focus its survey efforts on regions with geothermal potential, such as boundaries of major structural blocks, uplifted dome structures, deep fault zones, and volcanic belts. Other priority areas include geothermal manifestations such as hot springs, oil and gas wells, geological boreholes, and regions with high underground temperatures.
Regarding wave energy, Viet Nam will prioritize regions with strong, stable, and frequent wave activity—mainly coastal areas in Central and Southern Viet Nam, coastal islands, and archipelagos with large waves. Suitable conditions include water depths appropriate for installing wave energy devices, proximity to shorelines for efficient power transmission, and areas near major energy-consuming zones such as economic zones, industrial parks, export processing zones, and seaports. Priority is also given to unused or less socio-economically viable marine areas.
Regarding tidal power, priority will be given to coastal regions with large tidal ranges, especially bays, river mouths, and lagoons. Suitable areas include locations for building tidal barrages or installing submerged turbines and coastal zones with favorable conditions for electricity transmission to shore or direct supply to high-energy demand areas like economic zones, industrial parks, export processing zones, and ports.
Viet Nam will also assess and survey rivers and streams in midland and mountainous areas with watershed areas of 10 km² or more; reservoirs, irrigation dams, hydropower plants, and other natural water bodies to accurately identify the hydropower potential across the entire mainland territory.
Viet Nam will conduct investigations at rivers and streams in midland and mountainous areas with 10 square kilometers or more basin areas to assess hydropower resources.Assessment of waste recovery and treatment potential
In the coming phase, Viet Nam will assess the potential of generating electricity from municipal and urban solid waste, as well as waste from production and business activities. Based on this, the country will analyze the composition and types of solid waste according to their proportion and volume; identify categories of waste that are currently collected and incinerated, or have the potential for incineration to generate electricity.
This includes calculating the calorific value for each primary type of waste generated, as well as the average calorific value per ton of garbage. Viet Nam will also analyze and evaluate the volume and composition of waste generated and collected annually that could be converted into electricity, and assess the amount and composition of landfilled waste that could be recovered and processed for energy generation. Through the investigation, the country will forecast waste generation trends—by volume and composition—annually and in line with development planning periods; and predict the quantity and type of waste that can be collected and converted into energy.
From this, areas with strong potential for developing waste-to-energy projects will be identified using municipal and urban solid waste or waste from production and business activities.
The nationwide baseline survey will cover the mainland, islands, and archipelagos of Viet Nam, with priority given to large urban areas; densely populated rural regions with high waste generation (over 500 tons of solid waste per day); areas with potential for centralized waste collection and treatment; and locations with significant landfills that can serve as sources of energy raw materials.
Simultaneously, Viet Nam will assess the electricity generation potential from biomass in key agricultural production zones, including areas with high yields of crop residues; regions with large-scale plantation forests; areas with potential for using by-products from timber harvesting and processing; and locations with significant livestock farming, including concentrated cattle, pig, and poultry farms capable of producing biogas.