Trinh Quoc Vu, Deputy Director of the MoIT’s Department of Energy Saving andSustainable Development, said the industrial sector accounted for more than 47percent of the country’s total energy consumption.
“There are many technical solutions to save energy in the industrial sector inVietnam,” Vu said. “Energy use can be cut by 20 to 30 percent, event 40 percentin some areas.”
Statistics from the ministry showed the country now has 2,497 businesses withthe highest level of energy consumption.
He said the firms were put in the high-use category if they consume 1,000tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE), or 6 million kWh, per year. The companies musthave staff specialising in saving energy and have an energy audit every threeyears. They will report on their energy consumption and plans to save energy toauthorities in their localities.
In order to clarify the responsibilities of industrial firms, the ministryreleased six circulars on the per-product energy quota in the steel, chemical,beer, beverage, plastic and seafood processing sectors.
In addition, it has provided technical support in energy audits, conductedworker training and showcased energy saving technologies. These activities areunder the national programme on energy saving for the 2019-30 period.
The ministry established a 6 million USD fund with donors from Denmark in 2015to guarantee for brick manufacturers to renew their equipment and improvingeffectiveness of energy consumption.
There were 63 small- and medium-sized firms in the sector that accessed loansfrom the fund in its first two years of operation.
The ministry is preparing for an energy saving project for Vietnam’s industrialsectors with support from the World Bank through Vietcombank and BIDV, with thegoal of providing technical support to businesses.
Le Vinh Son, Chairman of Son Ha Group, said the firm had focused onimplementing energy saving solutions. It has conducted yearly energy audits toreduce the amount consumed by production activities.
Electricity costs for the group’s factory in the northern province of Bac Ninhused to be 500 million VND (21,500 USD) per month. They have been reduced to 300million VND per month. The group has 10 similar plants nationwide.
The national programme includes a target to reduce energy loss in the steel andcement sectors to 16.5 percent. The first phase will be implemented from2019-25 and the second from 2026-30.
If the targets are met, the country’s total energy use will be reduced bybetween 5 and 7 percent in the first phase.
The programme aims to mobilise all available resources both inside and outsidethe country to promote the effective use and saving of energy. It should alsohelp to establish an energy-saving habit to boost green growth and sustainabledevelopment.
The Vietnam Energy Data Centre will be built to apply advanced technologies tosave energy.-VNS/VNA