WHILE Vietnam has made striking progress in the last five years to jumpstart its solar energy generation capacity to the point that it is now the leader in Asean, watchers said the country’s transition to a clean energy future is hindered by underdeveloped regulations and grid inadequacy.

Vietnam catapulted to pole position in South-east Asia in 2019 with solar capacity reaching 4,750 megawatts (MW), from just 86 MW in the previous year, according to data compiled by researchers Thang Nam Do and Paul Burke.

Thailand, which up until then had the largest capacity for solar power generation in the region, stood at 2,987 MW the same year.