He said theministry should also develop energy storage systems (ESS), storedhydroelectricity to be synchronised with renewable energy development.
One of thedifficulties to develop wind and solar power in the Draft Power Plan VIII is toensure the construction of a synchronised and stable grid system. Projects thatcombine offshore wind power with green hydrogen production with a large enoughscale bring a new approach for both domestic and export to internationalmarket, a viable solution that is applied and accelerated in many countries.
Nguyen VietAnh, Vice President of the German-Vietnamese Innovative Network, said:“Hydrogen will be an important foundation to provide stable and sustainableenergy for Vietnam and an important foundation in National Power Planning VIII.However, the necessary condition here is to continue to expand and improve theexisting infrastructure through international programmes and cooperation.”
Green hydrogenis produced using renewable energy to provide electrolysed energy - separatingwater molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, which is strongly developed toreplace fossil fuels, serving the production, storage of electricity, industry,transportation, fertiliser production and chemicals.
According toanalysts of Fitch Solutions, global annual hydrogen demand is forecast toincrease from about 80 million tonnes in 2021 to 100 million tonnes by 2030.The green hydrogen sector could produce about 10 million tonnes per year by2030 - up from the current 0.1 percent hydrogen market share.
The portfolioof green hydrogen projects reached 71 GW in February although there were noprojects in the 2019-20 period and increased in the second quarter to121GW, including 136 projects in the planning and development phase. The averageinvestment is about 4.5 billion USD.
Global growthis being driven by Western Europe and Asia-Pacific, with these regionsaccounting for 82 percent of the above-mentioned green hydrogen projects. Thisis due to increasingly strict emissions regulations, the strong development ofrenewable energy with low electricity prices and "ambitious"decarbonisation targets.
Reaching theeconomic target of zero greenhouse emissions by the middle of this century willlikely require the use of about 500 to 800 million tonnes of green hydrogen peryear, a 5-7 times increase from today. By 2050, green hydrogen (and itsderivatives) can account for 15-20 percent of the final energy demand,according to the Energy Transition Committee.
There are twofactors that greatly affect the cost of producing green hydrogen, including thecost of input electricity, accounting for up to 80 percent and the cost ofstorage and transportation. Vietnam has world-class wind and solar powerpotential according to the figures outlined in the Draft Power Plan VIII,especially offshore wind power up to 475GW.
The country islocated on international maritime routes with many seaports. Theseare favourable factors to attract foreign investment to develop offshore windpower projects and green hydrogen projects, exporting to potential markets suchas Japan, the Republic of Korea and EU countries.
Thecombination of offshore wind power projects with green hydrogen also reducesthe investment burden of the domestic transmission grid and maintains the system’sstability through electricity storage by green hydrogen batteries, solving thechallenges of electricity generation. The current guidelines set out in theDraft Power Master Plan VIII promote the development of renewable energy inparticular and industries in general in a green and sustainable direction.
Resolution55-NQ/TW dated February 11, 2020 of the Politburo has set the task of“Performing technological research, developing a number of pilot projects forproduction and encouraging the use of hydrogen energy appropriately with thegeneral trend of the world”. The draft power plan VIII needs to be supplementedwith goals and a roadmap for the development of offshore wind power with greenhydrogen.
Currently, Vietnamhas a number of investors interested in developing hydrogen, includingEnterprize Energy Group (EE-UK) has proposed to the Government and the MoIT tocombine the development of Thang Long offshore wind power project (in Binh Thuanprovince) with green hydrogen production.
Ian Hatton,the group’s chairman, said: “With the results of the survey, wind measurementfor more than 12 consecutive months and the geology of the seabed off the coastof Binh Thuan province that EE Group has obtained, the use of wind turbineswith large capacity to produce electricity combined with hydrogen through theseawater electrolysed system is very potential. Vietnam can fully use windenergy towards this goal, meeting domestic demand and exports.”/.