In recent years, there has been a sharp rise in Vietnam’s energy industry, which has basically met the electricity demand for production and business, as well as people’s daily life, and has ensured national security and defense. However, it is forecasted that in the next 5 years, electricity demand will grow by 8.5-9.5% /year. To meet this demand, Vietnam needs to add 5,000-7,000 MW /year. The fact that traditional sources of energy, such as thermoelectricity and hydroelectricity, have been basically all exploited requires people to look for other sources of renewable energy (RE).
The reason is that many power projects are behind schedule; the supply of coal and gas for electricity generation are facing many difficulties; the demand for importing primary fuel (coal, LNG) in the period from 2020 – 2025 carries many risks. Besides, the power imbalance among areas /regions also puts pressure on the transmission grid, affecting the safety of electricity supply,…
Being clearly aware of the importance of RE sources to the economy, over the past time, the Communist Party and the Government of Vietnam have issued many guidelines and policies to focus on developing them. Especially, the latest Politburo’s Resolution No. 55 on Vietnam’s National Energy Development Strategy till 2030, with a vision to 2045, has made many breakthroughs in national energy development. In particular, all economic sectors, especially the private sector, are encouraged and facilitated with all favorable conditions, to participate in energy development.
With policies that encourage development, Vietnam has made powerful strides in this type of electric power within the past year. However, the overgrowth has caused a number of challenges such as: The hot development and concentration of RE sources in some localities affect power capacity release; regulation and operation of the power system.
Besides, the generation of RE on large scale is still limited due to some reasons: First, there is not enough backup source or energy storage system to integrate RE at large scale. Second, development policies have not been applied for a long time. Third, there has not been any mechanisms that attract capital investment for development through bidding; or any comprehensive studies on the development of offshore wind power projects in Vietnam …
Therefore, traditional electricity sources have not been replaced . “1000MW of RE can only replace about 300 – 350MW of gas, coal-fired and thermal power.” In the first 5 months of 2020 alone, due to poor waterflow to the reservoirs, coal-fired output still accounts for 59-60% of the total electricity output of the whole system.
RE development will both reduce the pressure on power investment for the electricity industry and increase the availability of the system, especially in the context that the power source is facing many difficulties. However, in reality, RE sources account for about 10% of the total capacity of the whole system, but the generated amount of electric power only accounts for only a small proportion (less than 3%) of the total power output.
According to: EVN
