Vietnam seeks investment in energy market

VOV

As one of the most efficient power markets in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has huge prospects, especially in renewable energy, experts have said.

There is need for investment in Vietnam in production, export capacities and upgrading of infrastructure, Phan The Anh, deputy general director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s southern affairs, said.

The Government is looking for responsible and sustainable investment that not only secures the future of the country but is also sensitive to the environment, he told the first Electrify Vietnam Summit, which opened on March 28 in HCM City.

The country has achieved almost 99% electrification at a relatively low cost compared to its neighbouring countries, he said.

The main drivers of energy consumption are industrial growth, urbanisation, increase in residential energy usage, and adoption of mechanised transportation systems.

The country’s energy demand is forecast to increase by over 10% a year between 2016 and 2020 and by 8% in 2021-30.

Electricity demand is expected to be 265-278 Terawatt hours (TWh) in 2020 to 572-632 TWh in 2030 as against 86 TWh in 2010.

To meet this growing demand, Vietnam needs to add 6,000-7,000MW of capacity annually at a cost of USD 148 billion by 2030.

Its energy sources are very diverse: coal, oil, natural gas, hydropower and renewables like solar, wind and biomass.

Currently, hydropower and coal are the largest sources and would remain so in the short term.

Anh said the Government has recently revised the Power Development Plan to increase the share of renewables like biomass, solar and wind to reduce the gap between demand and supply.

It aims to increase renewable power output from 58 billion kWh in 2015 to 101 billion kWh by 2020 and 186 billion kWh by 2030.

That will be equivalent to 7% of total supply in 2020 and 10% in 2030, and go a long way in ensuring energy security, environmental protection and sustainable socio-economic development and mitigating climate change.

Renewable power development will require investment of USD 23.7 billion by 2030.