Vietnam currently leads installed solar power capacity in Southeast Asia. (Photo: cafef.vn)Experts mentioned this shortcoming at a recent event within the framework ofthe Energy Support Program (ESP), a cooperation between the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade and the International Cooperation Organization.
According to World Bank data, Vietnam currently leads installed solar powercapacity in Southeast Asia, increasing from 86 MW in 2018 to 16,500 MW in 2020,putting Vietnam in the top ten countries of installed solar capacity in theworld.
While the development of solar power has contributed to supplementing animportant source of electricity that helps ensure the national power system,its uncertain nature and rapid development in a short time have causeddifficulties.
Under the Politburo's Resolution 55, the development of a smart grid was toensure the reliability and security of the national energy supply and helpachieve the goals in Vietnam's 10-year socio-economic development strategy forthe period of 2021-2030.
Head of Renewable Energy Component (GIZ) Vu Chi Mai said grid infrastructure inVietnam has not yet developed rapidly, leading to limitations that preventorganisations from maximising the renewable energy economy.
He said: “We need smart grid projects to develop modern, balancedenergy infrastructure compared to other countries in ASEAN.”
At the meeting, the senior officer of the Smart Grid Project for RenewableEnergy and Energy Efficiency (SGREEE), said: “The smart grid system has atwo-way exchange method, allowing electricity to be exchanged and bidirectionalinformation between utilities and consumers, which can be integrated at scale.Since then, the development of renewable energy forms becomes efficient, safeand sustainable.
He added: "From 2022, Vietnam's smart grid is expected to apply Internetof Things technology to bring about energy efficiency, helping Vietnam to reachthe above goals."
After five years of implementing the smart grid project, achievements includethe completion of the legal framework, capacity building and development, anddomestic and foreign technology cooperation.
The highlight is the promotion of electricity load adjustment by designing andresearching the CPP tariff - an hourly price increase, in accordance with thecharacteristics of Vietnam.
GIZ experts proposed a set of criteria for Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and theMinistry of Industry and Trade to build a smart grid index and apply it topower corporations.
At the same time, experts considered coal power as difficult-to-access capital.
Mai said: “Until now, as Vietnam has mainly focused on stabilising coal power,the requirement is how to ensure input materials have stability. We are used tousing stored energy, but the nature of the reserve is that it will run out whenused up, but when moving to renewable energy, a cycle is formed.
A senior officer of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project NguyenAnh Dung said that the carbon tax will directly affect the competitiveness ofthe energy companies.
He said: “Of particular significance is the commitment of 47 per cent ofinsurance companies in the world will not issue reinsurance for coal-firedpower. Without insurance, there will be no capital, forcing companies to changetheir energy sources."
Dung said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s commitment at COP26 became thedriving force and determination to promote Vietnam's rapid transformation ofsustainable energy towards a combination of policies to increase thelocalization rate, adding: "Currently, the price of renewable energy ischeaper and more competitive than before. Developing countries need to findtheir own path."
Duong Manh Cuong said: "Vietnam still lacks two important laws, known asthe Law on Energy and the Law on Renewable Energy, which leads to theunreasonable state of management policies for the development of theelectricity industry between coal-fired, solar and wind power.”
He said there was still a big gap between the energy that "needs" tobe mobilised and the energy that "can" be mobilised, leading to phasedifferences between production and transmission stages. and electricityconsumption."
GIZ experts recommended that the Ministry of Industry and Trade and theGovernment of Vietnam review and propose to update the roadmap for developingsmart grids combined with smart grid indexes. The organisation proposed a setof criteria for Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and the Ministry of Industry andTrade to build a smart grid index and apply it to power corporations.
The set of criteria provides eight criteria; green energy, energy market,supply reliability, data analysis, monitoring and control, customersatisfaction, network security and integration./.
VNA
