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Add to Preferred SourcesVietnam’s demand for energy rises by an average 9.5 percent year-on-year in the last 15 years, reaching 13 percent increase in 2006-11 and 11 percent in the 2011-16 period.
According to the Vietnam Energy Outlook 2017 report, imported energy could account for 37.5 percent of its total supplies in 2025 and more than half (58.5 percent) in 2035.
Vietnamese economy has transformed itself from an agrarian economy which relied primarily on traditional biomass fuels, to a modern mixed economy, one of the fastest growing ones in the world, resulting in rapid changes in the energy sector.
According to the Electricity and Renewable Energy Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), oil, coal, natural gas, hydropower and non-commercial biomass (woods, agricultural waste) are the main primary domestic energy sources. In recent years, the total output of these forms of energy doesn’t witness any substantial change, the department said.
Nguyen Van Thanh, deputy head of the department, said after more than 10 years of implementing Vietnam National Energy Development Strategy 2020, “in general, the energy sector has seen positive results, evidence in the achievement of several targets,” especially ones dealing with electricity access in rural areas or meeting socio-economic energy demands.
According to the department’s report, total electricity production and purchase of the State-owned Electricity Vietnam (EVN) reached 192.45 billion kWh, up 8.6 percent compared to the previous year; the national power sales achieved 174.05 billion kWh, an increase of 8.92 percent.
Vietnam scored 78.69/100 points in the Getting Electricity indicator (part of World Bank’s Doing Business index) and ranked 64th out of 190 nations and economies, moving up 32 places against 2016.
However, the energy sector failed to meet set targets on oil refinement and oil reserves, nuclear energy, or connecting its electrical lines and natural gas supply lines with other countries in Southeast Asia.
One of the energy sector’s strategic power connectivity plans is to link with regional countries’ power grids on the 500kV transmission lines, but so far, Vietnam is only capable of purchasing/selling contracts with China or Laos on the 220kV lines. A natural gas linkage with regional countries, similarly, remains a pipe dream.
According to Tran Van Tung, deputy minister of science and technology, the country’s energy sector is facing ‘layered challenges.’
On one hand, the sector needs to produce as much energy as possible to meet the demands of socio-economic development, on the other hand, it needs to honor international commitments on sustainable development and reduces reliance on fossil energy, which is already nearing its limits.
Experts maintained the only viable way forward for Vietnam is to focus on renewable energy to secure its future.
On September 25th, 2018, international financial institutions and representatives of worldwide development agencies will meet for the Vietnam Economic Infrastructure Development Forum to discuss energy efficiency among other upcoming business opportunities in Vietnam.
Original source: VIR
Published on 7 August 2018