Are the Barriers to Private Solar/Wind Investment in Vietnam Mainly Those That Limit Network Capacity Expansion?
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Overall, the paper is well-written and presents a clear research question and methodology. The study aims to identify the main barriers to private solar and wind investment in Vietnam, specifically exploring whether the network side (grid capacity expansion) is a greater barrier than the generation side. The author uses a literature review and semi-structured interviews with investors and relevant stakeholders to support their findings.
The results of the study indicate that weak grid capacity is a significant barrier to solar power projects in congested areas. The study suggests that if the government and other relevant authorities managed the capacity of local grids more transparently and carefully controlled licenses, investors could have contributed to distributing additional capacity before the Commercial Operation Date. However, as the Electricity Law in Vietnam does not allow private firms to invest in the grid, renewable energy owners need to wait for the government and Vietnam Electricity to upgrade the grid or for a law that allows private investment.
One potential limitation of the study is that it only focuses on the Vietnamese context. Thus, the results may not be generalizable to other countries or regions. Additionally, the study could benefit from a more detailed exploration of the impact of weak grid capacity on private investment in solar and wind power.
In summary, the paper presents an interesting and well-executed study that contributes to the understanding of the barriers to private solar and wind investment in Vietnam. The paper's findings suggest that weak grid capacity is a significant barrier and that there is a need for greater transparency and careful control of licenses.
Strengths:
The paper addresses an important issue related to the barriers to private investment in solar and wind power in Vietnam, which has the potential to contribute to the country's sustainable development.
The study is based on a combination of literature review and semi-structured interviews with investors and stakeholders, providing a comprehensive analysis of the barriers from different perspectives.
The paper categorizes the barriers into five aspects, providing a clear and organized framework for understanding the challenges.
The paper provides specific policy recommendations to address the identified barriers, which can be helpful for policymakers and investors in the renewable energy sector.
Weaknesses:
The sample size of the semi-structured interviews conducted in the study is relatively small, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.
The paper does not provide a statistical analysis of the data collected from the semi-structured interviews, which may make it difficult to assess the magnitude and significance of the identified barriers.
The paper does not provide an evaluation of the potential environmental and social impacts of the policy recommendations, which may limit the comprehensiveness of the study.
Overall, the paper is well-written and presents a clear research question and methodology. The study aims to identify the main barriers to private solar and wind investment in Vietnam, specifically exploring whether the network side (grid capacity expansion) is a greater barrier than the generation side. The author uses a literature review and semi-structured interviews with investors and relevant stakeholders to support their findings.
The results of the study indicate that weak grid capacity is a significant barrier to solar power projects in congested areas. The study suggests that if the government and other relevant authorities managed the capacity of local grids more transparently and carefully controlled licenses, investors could have contributed to distributing additional capacity before the Commercial Operation Date. However, as the Electricity Law in Vietnam does not allow private firms to invest in the grid, renewable energy owners need to wait for the government and Vietnam Electricity to upgrade the grid or for a law that allows private investment.
One potential limitation of the study is that it only focuses on the Vietnamese context. Thus, the results may not be generalizable to other countries or regions. Additionally, the study could benefit from a more detailed exploration of the impact of weak grid capacity on private investment in solar and wind power.
In summary, the paper presents an interesting and well-executed study that contributes to the understanding of the barriers to private solar and wind investment in Vietnam. The paper's findings suggest that weak grid capacity is a significant barrier and that there is a need for greater transparency and careful control of licenses.
Strengths:
The paper addresses an important issue related to the barriers to private investment in solar and wind power in Vietnam, which has the potential to contribute to the country's sustainable development.
The study is based on a combination of literature review and semi-structured interviews with investors and stakeholders, providing a comprehensive analysis of the barriers from different perspectives.
The paper categorizes the barriers into five aspects, providing a clear and organized framework for understanding the challenges.
The paper provides specific policy recommendations to address the identified barriers, which can be helpful for policymakers and investors in the renewable energy sector.
Weaknesses:
The sample size of the semi-structured interviews conducted in the study is relatively small, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.
The paper does not provide a detailed explanation of the methodology used in the literature review, which may make it difficult for readers to evaluate the validity and reliability of the sources used.
The paper does not provide a statistical analysis of the data collected from the semi-structured interviews, which may make it difficult to assess the magnitude and significance of the identified barriers.
The paper does not provide an evaluation of the potential environmental and social impacts of the policy recommendations, which may limit the comprehensiveness of the study.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The author discusses that if the barriers to private solar/wind investment in Vietnam mainly those that limit network capacity expansion. The topic and field of the manuscript is of significance keeping in view the involvement of private investors to bring the adaptation of renewable energy exponentially. However, authors need to consider following points to revise the manuscript as potential publication.
· Author needs to submit this manuscript as review article or discussion not research article.
· The data regarding policies (from start till section 2.1 bearing line 1-line 168) used by author is quite old such as most policies state that government decided the certain task will be completed till 2020 or 2021 but there’s no update regarding that in text as its already 2023.
· Furthermore, author mentioned about his visit in 2019 for conducting interviews to understand the barriers in adaptation of the renewables. However, it’s been four years and ground reality would be quite different than the past. It is, therefore, suggested to reconduct interviews and compare the situation as well.
· The author focused on six-seven barriers to understand and pin-point the actual problem in the light of interviewee’s approach. However, the manuscript flow is not continuous. It is quite difficult to grasp the given knowledge in flow. Author needs to consider this comment to rearrange the provided details for better and easy understanding approach for the readers and relevant stakeholders.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
1. Paper is content rich. Author should add one more column and suggest the policy recommendations by the author itself or through the references quoted in the tables (5, 6, 7, 8 and 9), where it is mentioned for the barriers, to add the value to the paper and for the better understanding of the readers.
2. In table 10, Summary of the interviewees conducted between August and December 2019 are mentioned. So it is a suggestion for the authors to use latest data, since this paper will be publish in 2023, so try to conduct some more interviews, if possible.
3. Overall organization of a paper is poor. So organize it by removing some repeated content which is mentioned in the table and then also explained in paragraphs. Try to explain it in a bullet form in a table itself.
4. Write some concrete points in conclusion; currently it is too long to understand.
Minor editing of English language required
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Author's effort is appreciated in addressing all the points raised in first review.
