DEEP C implements large-scale eco-industrial park model

DEEP C’s complexes undergo thorough assessment covering water and electricity use and much more, Photo: Thuy Dung

Since 2020, with financial support from the Swiss government, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has coordinated with the UN Industrial Development Organization to implement a project to implement eco-IPs in Vietnam according to the approach from the Global Eco-IP Programme. DEEP C was selected as one of the pilot IPs to join the programme.

On August 21, the project’s technical support team conducted a resource efficiency and clean production (RECP) assessment for 19 enterprises and factories at DEEP C.

The team found that there were 139 RECP opportunities related to electricity, fossil fuel, and water saving at DEEP C IZs. The zones have availed of 53 RECP opportunities, equal to 38 per cent, and envisage to implement 33 others.

The company currently encompasses five such zones engaging 3,400 hectares of land located in the northern city of Haiphong and the neighbouring province of Quang Ninh. These areas are seamlessly connected, creating a large ecosystem to apply the eco-IP model, attracting more than 170 projects in production and logistics with capital reaching over $7.5 billion.

Assessment results found that DEEP C had saved over $800,000 per year from implemented and planned RECP solutions, with a total potential savings of $2.56 million per year, and reduced electricity consumption by 1,828MWh per year. This included renewable energy opportunities, with a total potential savings reaching 27,950MWh per year.

DEEP C also saved 5,550 gigajoule (GJ) per year out of a total potential of 105,193GJ per year; reduced water consumption by over 90,300cu.m per year out of a total potential of 122,300cu.m per year; and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 1,500 tonnes out of a total potential of 28,300 tonnes CO2 per year.

The cluster achieved almost half of the indicators of the international framework for eco-IPs in 2020. Leveraging the project support, by the end of 2023, it had achieved 83 per cent of the indicators of the international framework for eco-IPs and has the potential to reach 100 per cent in the forthcoming years.

Last year, 15 customers in DEEP C IZs implemented RECP solutions to efficiently use water resources and optimise energy. These efforts saved approximately 5.8 million kWh of electricity, 90,000cu.m of water, and reduced 10,588 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

For example, tesa Haiphong Co., Ltd., a secondary investor in DEEP C IZ, was the first unit in the complex to successfully build wadi concepts in the infrastructure area. A wadi is a dry riverbed or valley that helps mitigate flood effects amid bad weather.

“The journey to an eco-IP is not an easy one, but one of hard work, seriousness, and great responsibility to the community. It is a difficult task, requiring not only perseverance, effort and time but also finance,” said Bruno Jaspaert, CEO of DEEP C IZs.

“The difference between conventional and sustainable investment is the time factor. Therefore, we hope that the Vietnamese government can consider preferential policies for eco-IPs, such as extending land lease terms for infrastructure investors who successfully build them,” he added.

Meanwhile, in July, DEEP C published its latest annual sustainability report, which serves as an important tool for measuring, monitoring, evaluating, and planning sustainable development strategies for its industrial zones. It was also the first industrial zone developer in Vietnam to apply international reporting standards, making operations transparent and setting a clear sustainable development roadmap.

“Currently, Vietnam is not ready to meet these standards fully. When investors come to DEEP C, many parts of the work that we have prepared for them, so they can include that content in their sustainability report. The key point is investors do not come to DEEP C because we offer the cheapest land rental price,” Jaspaert said.

“Investors come to us without having to negotiate on price reduction, they come because we are greener, we meet the requirements that investors are looking for.”

DEEP C has implemented carbon certification and sustainable development initiatives, and investors just need to focus on production. Investors can consider participating in DEEP C initiatives such as registering to participate in a renewable energy programme, or participating in DEEP C Farm project, or waste recycling and reprocessing chain, said Jaspaert.

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