On 19th and 20th December 2013, in Hanoi, Institute of Energy and Institute of Energy Economics, Japan co-organized a 2-day workshop on “Renewable Energy policy and Smart Grid / Community”.
The growth of electricity demand is remarkable with the economic growth in Vietnam. In current condition, the growth in demand for power exceeds the power capacity expansion speed. Therefore, the demand side measures like peak cut control and energy saving should be strengthening and needed.
On the other hand, towards to the low-carbon society, the introduction of feed in tariff system and feasibility study to increased use of renewable energy such as solar, wind, biomass and waste generation must be encouraged.
The expansion of introducing renewable energy and the energy demand side measures should be promoted by the same time. Therefore, the workshop is expected to contribute Japanese experience by sharing the information on promotion of smart grid / community in Japan to Viet Nam.
The workshop was attended by more than 100 participants from various ministries, management organizations, enterprises, researching institutes, universities…
The first day workshop started with the opening remark of Dr. Hoang Tien Dung, Director General of Insititute of Energy. He said that the Government of Vietnam had set a target for renewable energy to reach over 5% in the total primary energy consumption by 2020. However, renewable energy development in Vietnam still encounters several obstacles such as lack of supportive mechanisms, technology selection and innovation, etc.
The workshop continued with other reports and presentations from Vietnamese and Japanese experts on renewable energy policies, current status and prospects of renewable energy, some renewable energy projects in Vietnam with experiences, as well as introducing some renewable energy technologies.
At opening the second day workshop, Mr. Nguyen Vu Quang, Deputy Director of Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam, MOIT stated that the total electricity production in Vietnam had increased rapidly, reaching around 120 billion kWh by 2012, the increasing rate is around 13-14%/year. He added that the installed capacity also increased rapidly, in 2000 it was 6,200 MW but in 2012, it was already 27,000 MW (increased by 4.3 times); the transmission network has also developed in terms of both quantity and technology.
However, many challenges remained such as big capital investment requirement, rapidly growing demand, the shifting of the economy towards market economy under the orientation of the government, etc.
One of the orientations from the Government is study to apply modern smart grid, MOIT is assigned to develop the Smart Grid Program to deploy in Vietnam. ERAV is assigned to be in charge of Smart Gird development and has called for comments and ideas from stakeholders to submit to MOIT for approval. In 2012, the Government issued a Decision to assign MOIT to consider the development of Smart Grid, and MOIT has established the Steering Committee on Smart Grid Development. In this context, Vietnam needs the support of all stakeholders and especially the international cooperation with developed countries who have much experience in smart grid development. Japan has many similar conditions to Vietnam and is developed in smart grid technology. Therefore, this workshop as an activities of the 40 years anniversary of Vietnam – Japan relationship will be a good chance for the two countries to share information, experience and find cooperation opportunities in smart grid development.
Some other pictures of the workshop:
