Viet Nam needs to fully exploit renewable energy sources to cope with the increasing number of power shortages and maintain sustainable development of the country's natural resources, experts have said.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country's power consumption is five times higher than that of the 1990 – 2004 period, with a surge of about 11.7 per cent per year.

Many kinds of fossil fuel used to generate electricity like coal and oil have been exhausted.

"Exploiting clean renewable energy plays an important role in socio-economic development and will ensure food security and sustainability," said Nguyen Hai Nam, deputy minister of Industry and Trade.

Clean renewable energy uses sun, wind, water and geothermal sources.

However, Viet Nam faces serious problems in developing a renewable-energy industry, including the lack of advanced technologies.

The high costs of such technology and equipment as well as production costs are stifling progress in the renewable-energy industry.

More financial support and incentives are needed from the Government to attract investors, according to To Quoc Tru, director of the Viet Nam Power Consul-tancy Centre.

Viet Nam needed to apply technologies to use waste from the cattle and poultry industry to produce biogas, he said.

Solar sources of energy could be used to provide electrical power for public and traffic lighting.

Viet Nam has an abundant source of renewable energy sources, which could mitigate the impact on the natural environment, according to Hai.

Each year, the country has about 2,000 to 2,500 hours of sunlight, equivalent to 43.9 million tonnes of oil per year.

Wind energy could reach a capacity of about 800 – 1,400kwh per square metre per year in the Central Highlands, southern and coastal areas.

Another 500kwh per square metre per year could be produced in other areas from other sources of renewable energy.

Source: VNS