Indonesia, Vietnam look to blaze trail for solar in Southeast Asia
Indonesia and Vietnam are looking to join Thailand in blazing a trail for solar power in Southeast Asia, introducing targets to fire up green energy generation as a landmark global agreement to curb pollution is set to take effect. Countries around the world are coming under increasing pressure to crack down on carbon emissions from sectors such as coal-fired power stations, with the historic Paris climate accord coming into force on November 4 after it was signed last year. Indonesia and Vietnam aim to each have annual solar power capacity of at least 5 gigawatts from 2020, up from close to nothing now, officials from both governments told Reuters. That level of output would have placed the countries among the top 15 solar producers in the world in 2015 data from the International Renewable Energy Agency, and would account for close to 9 percent of expected power generation in Indonesia and Vietnam at the turn of the next decade.
