At the event

The announcement of Vietnam Energy Outlook Report 2019 was hosted in Hanoi on November 4 by the two ministries and the Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam.

At the event, Jakob Stenby Lundsager, Long Term Advisor to MOIT for the Danish Energy Partnership Programme in Vietnam, said that Vietnam has imported pure coal since 2015 and the trend is increasing.

From 2020 to 2030, fuel imports will increase by 3 and by 2050 will be 8 times higher than at present. This shows that, three-fourths of Vietnam's energy consumption is from imported energy.

Therefore, Jakob Stenby Lundsager proposed, Vietnam will soon study the reduction of future coal demand and take early action in coal power consumption.

Promoting the development of renewable energy, energy saving, and developing gas thermal power may contribute to reversing the current coal consumption trend.

According to Morten Baek, Permanent Secretary, Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate, the report showed that Vietnam is still using electricity entirely dependent on natural resources that are not renewable, easily polluting the environment, and is dependent on the supply of coal and hydropower.

Therefore, the development of renewable energy is a great opportunity, in line with the trend of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing environmental pollution.

This is the "big door" that opens the prospect of developing renewable energy in Vietnam when the source of solar energy, wind power, biomass in Vietnam is extremely abundant and full of potential.

According to the EOR 2019 report, there are 3 scenarios with 3 complementary directions to achieve the goal of reducing coal consumption, reducing hydropower dependence, saving energy and promoting the use of renewable energy.

In order to achieve the goal of promoting renewable energy development, the Danish side also has policy recommendations for Vietnam such as reverse the trend of high coal consumption, increase energy efficient facilities, and support large-scale energy-saving investment projects.

Danish experts also recommend that energy saving should be a top priority in the eighth Power Plan. A stable, simple, transparent legal framework and increased competitiveness for renewable energy projects could reach 40% of renewable energy in the electricity structure by 2030.

The report is part of the outstanding collaborative results between the MOIT and the Danish ministry, within the framework of the lower carbon transition in energy efficiency sector in Vietnam, which is sponsored by the Danish Government. It is expected that the report will be implemented every two years. Nhan Dan