Solar panel production projects in Vietnam are stalling mainly due to difficulties in the global solar panel market. 

Solar panel production projects in Vietnam are stalling mainly due to difficulties in the global solar panel market. 

The general manager of Global Sphere, Nguyen Trong Nguyen, said a partner withdraw from their solar panel production joint venture one year ago. 

The United Arab Emirates-based firm found out that its Vietnamese partner, WorldTech Transfer Investment, did not have sufficient financial security. 

The project manufacturing solar panels in the central city of Hue has a total investment of 300 million USD invested by Global Sphere and WorldTech, of which the former is responsible for 100 percent of investment capital while the latter is to be responsible for building, managing and controlling the plant. 

Construction of the project started in January 2013 in the Phong Dien Industrial Zone, Hue city. The first phase of the project will operate after 30 months of construction with an initial capacity of 60MW panels per year and then the annual capacity will increase to 250MW panels in the second phase. 

However, since January this year, the project has stalled and the Hue Planning and Investment Department said they have not received official announcement on either stopping or continuing the project from the investors. 

This is the third project of its kind that has faced difficulties in investment and construction. The two others include a project in Ho Chi Minh City with a registered capital of 1.2 billion USD and a project in the central province of Quang Nam with a registered capital of 390 million USD. 

Last year, First Solar, the US investor of a solar panel production project in Ho Chi Minh City, announced a temporary stop to the development of the project due to a negative balance of supply and demand in the world market for the panels. 

While the Indochine Energy Industrial Company, located in Chu Lai Open Economic Region in Quang Nam province, proposed to prolong construction of its project producing solar panels because of difficulties related to market and production technology.