Vietnam: electricity mix, trade-offs and the revised power plan
A sourced example using EVN's 2024 electricity production-and-purchase data and the government's revised Power Development Plan VIII. Separate observed output from future targets and check that your centre selected Vietnam.
Section CASE-10.6.4 · Vietnam · optional energy-mix example
Exam scope and assessment notes
Cambridge IGCSE Geography 0460, 2027–2029 syllabus, Topic 10.6.4. The syllabus does not prescribe one universal set of named detailed specific examples: centres select places suited to their learners. Sixteen optional StudyForA evidence packs now cover all sixteen example objectives, but the centre's choices are unconfirmed. Match each pack to your centre's chosen place and replace any mismatch before treating the course as complete. Original StudyForA explanations and self-check practice are not Cambridge papers, official grades or teacher-marked coursework. Map, graph and written answers are not automatically assessed. Paper 4 practice uses supplied or invented data and cannot certify safe fieldwork, equipment use or real data collection. Centre-set coursework and specialist teacher review remain pending.
Before you begin
- No previous Geography course is assumed. Use the supplied map, data or scenario; distinguish observation from explanation and support conclusions with evidence.
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
What is the difference between installed capacity and annual electricity output?
What you will learn
- Describe Vietnam's 2024 electricity mix using a consistent data denominator
- Compare environmental and supply effects of coal, hydropower and renewables
- Explain how the revised national power plan aims to manage rising demand
- Evaluate the trade-offs among energy security, affordability and sustainability
Observed output is different from installed capacity
EVN's Annual Report 2024–2025 records 308,732 million kWh of power production and purchases in 2024. The table includes domestic generation and imported electricity. Coal supplied 152,775 million kWh, hydropower 88,723 million, renewable energy (EVN's separate category) 39,641 million, gas 21,827 million and imports 5,144 million; oil and other sources made up the balance. These are output totals, not installed capacity.
Using the same total as the denominator, coal supplied about 49.5% and hydropower about 28.7%. Renewable energy outside the hydropower row contributed about 12.8%. A source mix can change from year to year with rainfall, demand, new projects and how much each plant is dispatched.
Energy sources create different benefits and impacts
Coal-fired power can provide dispatchable electricity for industry and a growing urban economy, but produces greenhouse gases and air pollutants. Hydropower is dispatchable and has low operational carbon emissions, yet dams can alter river flows, sediment, habitats and communities; output also depends on water conditions. Solar and wind reduce fuel use and operational emissions, but their variable output increases the need for transmission, storage and flexible balancing. Imports can add supply but create cross-border dependence.
The mix reflects choices about reliable supply, costs, local resources and environmental effects. It should be assessed through both annual output and impacts such as emissions, air quality, river ecology, land use, drought resilience and electricity access.
The revised plan is a target, not a completed energy transition
Vietnam's government approved a revised Power Development Plan VIII in April 2025. The plan expects electricity demand to rise and sets targets for more renewable generation, grids and other capacity. It projects renewable energy excluding hydropower at around 28–36% by 2030. That is a forward-looking policy target, not Vietnam's measured 2024 share.
Managing supplies sustainably requires timely grid connections, storage and flexible generation alongside new wind and solar. Hydropower and thermal generation must be planned with climate, water, pollution and fuel-security risks in mind. Check future EVN data against plan targets before claiming that a transition has been delivered.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
Why does coal's approximately 49.5% output share not mean that coal made up 49.5% of installed capacity?
Worked example
Coal generated 152,775 million kWh out of 308,732 million kWh of production and purchases in 2024. Calculate its approximate share and state why output share differs from capacity share.
Show the worked solution
- Divide coal output by the same-year total and multiply by 100.
- 152,775 ÷ 308,732 × 100 is about 49.5%.
- Capacity measures maximum installed power at a moment; output measures energy actually produced over time.
Answer Coal supplied approximately 49.5% of Vietnam's 2024 electricity production and purchases. This is an output share; it differs from capacity share because power stations operate at different rates and some capacity may not be dispatched continuously.
Look for these in your work
- Correct denominator used
- Share rounded accurately
- Output distinguished from capacity
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Calculate coal's share of Vietnam's 2024 production and purchases using EVN's figures.
Give me a hint
Divide 152,775 million kWh by 308,732 million kWh and multiply by 100.
Compare my reasoning
- Use the 2024 total of 308,732 million kWh as the denominator.
- 152,775 ÷ 308,732 × 100 ≈ 49.48%.
- Round to about 49.5% and identify it as an output share.
Coal supplied about 49.5% of total power production and purchases in 2024. This is an annual output share, not the installed-capacity share.
Look for these in your work
- Correct total used
- Calculation accurate
- Output measure labelled
Compare one benefit and one impact of coal-fired power with one benefit and one impact of hydropower in Vietnam.
Give me a hint
Consider dispatchability and carbon or air pollution for coal, and river impacts for hydropower.
Compare my reasoning
- Coal can provide controllable output for demand but emits greenhouse gases and air pollutants.
- Hydropower can provide low-operational-carbon electricity and dispatchability.
- Dams may change river flows, sediment, habitats and communities, and output depends on water conditions.
Coal offers dispatchable supply but creates greenhouse-gas and air-pollution impacts. Hydropower can provide flexible electricity with low operational emissions, but dams alter rivers and depend on water availability. The trade-off should be judged at the plant and basin scale.
Look for these in your work
- One benefit and impact for each source
- Energy-security link included
- Environmental effects compared
Evaluate whether Vietnam can meet rising demand sustainably by building renewable capacity alone.
Give me a hint
Consider 2030 targets, output variability, grid and storage, demand growth and the impacts of other sources.
Compare my reasoning
- The revised 2025 plan targets renewable energy excluding hydropower at about 28–36% by 2030.
- Wind and solar can reduce fuel use and operational emissions but need grid connections, storage and balancing.
- A sustainable mix also considers hydropower's water effects, thermal generation, demand efficiency and reliable access.
Renewables are central to a lower-carbon system, but building capacity alone does not guarantee reliable output. Vietnam also needs transmission, storage, flexible balancing and demand efficiency. The revised-plan target is a goal rather than a completed result, so later generation and reliability data should be checked together with environmental impacts.
Look for these in your work
- Target accurately identified as future plan
- System integration needs explained
- Reliability and sustainability both evaluated
Common mistakes
- Mixing installed capacity with electricity output
- Adding hydropower to EVN's separate renewable category without stating the convention
- Treating the 2030 plan target as a current result
- Assuming a renewable source has no environmental effects
- Ignoring storage, grid and balancing needs for variable generation
- Assuming imports are domestic generation
- Using this optional pack without confirming the centre's selected country
What can you explain now?
Is Vietnam's 28–36% renewable target a measured 2024 output share or a revised-plan target for 2030?
Compare with the explanation
A government plan target for 2030
Keep observed data separate from projections and policy targets.
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Make it stick
State Vietnam's 2024 coal and hydro output shares, explain one impact of each, distinguish the 2030 plan target from an observed result, and name one grid or storage need.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.