Vietnam’s energy consumption is forecast to rise by 12 percent in the next decade and the demand in 2030 is projected to be quadruple that in 2005, according to experts. This is a grave challenge and burden for the Vietnamese economy, because its budgets for electricity grid maintenance and repair are very modest.
The Workshop on “Supporting renewable energy development – Sharing experiences between France and Vietnam” was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Embassy of France in Vietnam with the close collaboration of the French Agency for Development (AFD), the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and the French Renewable Energies Association (SER). Seven French renewable energy investors also attended the event. Addressing at the meeting, both Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Le Duong Quang, and French Ambassador to Vietnam, J.N Poirrier, underlined the importance of promoting cooperation in renewable energy, transfer of renewable energy technologies and tapping of mutual potentials and strengths in this important field.
According to experts at the workshop, the flip side of economic growth is the huge demand for electricity, particularly in the next 20-30 years. However, given its current conditions, it is an enormous challenge for Vietnam to meet its energy demand in the context of depleting domestic fossil sources, volatile fuel prices and rising dependence on world energy prices. For that reason, tapping renewable energy sources is extremely important to all aspects economy, society, energy security and sustainable development. The Government of Vietnam set renewable energy development target: “The total installed wind power capacity will reach 1,000 MW and biomass power will climb to 500 MW by 2020 and the respective outputs will jump to 6,200 MW and 2,000 MW by 2030. Wind-to-power output will account for 0.7 percent of the country’s total power output in 2020 and 2.4 percent in 2030 while the respective percentages of biomass power are 0.6 percent and 1.1 percent.”
Deputy Minister Le Duong Quang said the geographical location and climate plus an agriculture-based economy provide Vietnam with favourable conditions to exploit and use new advanced energy sources like hydropower, biomass, wind, solar, geothermal and bio-fuel. Vietnam has about 1,000 locations suitable for building small power plants with a total capacity of 7,000 MW. Regarding wind energy, Vietnam is assessed to have good potentials for developing wind energy (with the potential capacity reaching 7,000 MW – 8,700MW). In addition, the country is highly appreciated by the world community for its potential biomass sources (materials for biomass power and heat generation are estimated at 170 million tonnes, equivalent to 1,600-2,600 MW of electricity). Regarding solar energy, with a total annual average radiation of 230-250 Kcal/cm2 of solar energy, Vietnam can use this source to heat water and generate electricity.
However, according to scientists, Vietnam is modestly using its renewable energy sources. At the end of 2013, renewable energy sources accounted for 6.3 percent of electricity output. The installed capacity approximated 3,990 MW, of which hydropower made up 3,770 MW; wind power, 52MW; biomass power, 150 MW; and other renewable energies, 18MW.
According to SER, France has its today renewable energy development because SER gathered 400 members of all renewable energy channels to promote the sector’s interests. The renewable energy sector has created 80,000 jobs and generated EUR10 billion of annual revenue. However, to do this, the French Government has given special attention to this sector, applied price support packages and effectively controlled its development process and the number of installation workers. And, another decisive factor is the acceptance of the people, which helps shorten the duration of project deployment.
Citing limitations to this project, Deputy Minister Le Duong Quang said that Vietnam now lacks strong facilities for renewable energy development, including assessing agencies, financial institutions and development directing agencies. In addition, the country has just issued new support mechanisms for biomass to power and waste to power; thus, it needs some more time to compile relevant documents to raise the management efficiency of State agencies.
Anh Phuong
Đăng ký: VietNam News