US supports clean energy development in Vietnam

The conference, part of the continuing celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the normalisation of US – Vietnam bilateral relations, is co-organised by the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, VIR and sponsored by General Electric.

Themed “Smart Solutions for Vietnam”, the conference attracted the participation from over 150 government officials, business leaders, investors and experts. It aims at creating an open dialogue for participants to discuss challenges, benefits and solutions in pursuing green energy sustainability in Vietnam.

At the conference, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) Nguyen The Phuong said, “Searching for smart solutions to promote green energy sustainability is a key content of Vietnam's National Green Growth Strategy, which has been implementing for years.”

“Lessons learnt, experiences, suggestions and recommendations at the conference will be useful references for the government to construct and improve policies on promoting renewable and clean energy”, he added.

There has indeed been an increasing recognition of environmental issues as a consequence of rapid development in Vietnam. In September 2012, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved the National Green Growth Strategy for 2011-2020 to reduce greenhouse gas emission levels by 8 to 10 per cent compared to the 2010 level and to reduce energy consumption per GDP unit by 1 to 1.5 per cent per year.

Patrick Wall, principal commercial official of the US Consulate General, said that the US has been a committed partner of Vietnam in the latter’s journey to develop clean energy for sustainable power.

For instance, the US can leverage advanced technologies, expertise and financing strategies to develop cleaner energy including biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, clean coal, natural gas, energy efficiency and smart grid in Vietnam.

“The Clean Energy Conference 2015 is the latest example of the growing cooperation between our two countries in the area of clean energy development,” Wall told VIR.

As the co-organiser of the conference, Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Investment Review, said: “The conference would focus the discussion on challenges for clean energy development in Vietnam and opportunities for investors in this area. These are hot issues in the context that the energy demand is growing rapidly to meet the country’s fast and sustainable socio-economic development.”

At the all-day event, other representatives and officials also offered their ideas in terms of policies, technologies and financing schemes for clean energy projects in Vietnam to attract new investment and trade in the sector.

Representatives from U.S. governmental agencies, financial organisations, investors including UNDP, USAID, USTDA, IFC, OPIC, Dragon Capital, General Electric, Black & Veatch,and their Vietnamese counterparts, such as PECC3/EVN, ERAV, Cong Ly, and HBRE joined the discussion. They offered their ideas on how Vietnam could improve its policy to encourage the development of renewable energy, to increase sustainable economic, social and environmental development.

As the sponsor for the event, GE also shared their innovative technologies and solutions for wind power as well as distributed power, including biomass and waste-to-energy. The company has built a good reputation in Vietnam’s renewable energy sector, most notably in wind power, and it has also provided technological support to other renewable energy and power generation projects in the country.

GEprovided in total 62 wind turbines for two phases of the Bac Lieu wind power project in the Mekong Delta, and recently was chosen as the provider of 14 turbines in Phase I of the Tay Nguyen wind farm project, located in Daklak province. In 2013, GE and the Electricity Regulatory of Vietnam (ERAV) also signed an agreement for a ‘renewable energy integration study’ aimed at developing wind power as a reliable energy source into the national grid.

“As one of the first US companies to be present in Vietnam, General Electric has accompanied the country’s economic growth for the past 20 years, focusing on four main sectors: energy, aviation, healthcare, oil and gas. GE is well positioned to play a supporting role with the increasing demand for more sustainable and cost-effective energy solutions in Vietnam. We can bring to bear all our global experience, R&D and resources, and through developing stronger partnerships with local customers, bring more benefits to the country in a sustainable way,” said chief executive officer of GE Vietnam and Cambodia Nguyen My Lan.

Vietnam is endowed with excellent renewable energy resources throughout the country. The geographic orientation with approximately 3,400km of coastline, provides abundant wind energy at an estimated potential of 500-1000 kWh/m2 per year. Solar energy is abundant with average solar radiation at 5kWh/m2 per day across the country. Moreover, the technical potential of small hydropower (<30MW) is larger than 4,000MW. As a result, many U.S. manufacturers wish to increase their involvement in Vietnam’s energy sector.