Coronavirus outbreak may Cause A Boom In Coal Power
The delay of new natural gas facilities means that many countries, such as Vietnam, will have to rely on coal-generated power to make up the shortfall.
The global energy industry downturn at the hands of Covid-19 has not only hurt immediate revenues, but is also affecting national infrastructure and energy policy planning.
A Rystad Energy analysis shows that gas resources around the world will see development delays, with the construction of planned regasification facilities also at risk. Coal may benefit as a result.
The case of Vietnam is a good example of how a country with its own rich gas resources will fail to meet domestic production expectations, requiring an increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports instead. Planned regasification facilities also risk delays due to the downturn, leaving the use of coal as the only financially viable option to meet growing power demand.
Vietnam’s strong GDP growth – about 6 percent to 7 percent per year – demands a growing amount of energy resources. With a hunger to satisfy the country’s stable growth, Vietnam expects its power generation capacity to reach 125 to 130 GW by 2030 from the current 54 GW of capacity. In 2019, 33 percent of the country’s power mix was met with gas and the rest was fueled by renewables and coal.
