When private enterprises create sustainable value from renewable energy

For Founder and Executive Chairman Do Quang Hien, clean energy is not just about asking for projects to make profit. More importantly, it is also the aspiration to create sustainable values for society, community and country.

Be proactive in the international energy "playground"

Over the years, a number of domestic enterprises have proactively invested in cross-border energy. In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, bilateral cooperation in this field is considered to have great potential. Many large-scale projects invested by Vietnam are about to “reap sweet fruit”.

One example is the Truong Son Wind Power Plant, developed by the Viet Lao Investment and Energy Joint Stock Company. With a capacity of 600 MW, when put into operation, the project will supplement Vietnam's power supply when the load increases, helping to reduce the risk of power shortages in the northern provinces.

Another project that has attracted special attention from experts is the Savan 1 Wind Power Plant of T&T Group . Officially receiving the concession contract from January 2025, just over half a year later, this enterprise has rapidly completed a 220kV line of more than 50km connecting the power transmission line from Savanakhet to Vietnam. The line marks an important step in creating a vital backbone to "connect power sources and renewable energy from Laos to the regional power grid through Vietnam".

T&T Group's Savan 1 Wind Power Plant project in Laos is highly appreciated by experts.

Notably, as planned, the project with a total capacity of 495MW and a total investment of 768 million USD will officially be put into commercial operation, bringing clean electricity to Vietnam by the end of this year. This is a project highly appreciated by experts, as it diversifies supply sources, develops green energy, strengthens national energy security; at the same time, realizes high-level commitments between the two governments ; contributes to bringing the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Laos into a period of practical and effective cooperation.

Looking more broadly, the journey of Truong Son Wind Power, or Savan 1 Wind Power, is not only a story of investment in energy, but also a testament to the aspirations of the private sector in the process of accompanying the country, creating a sustainable energy infrastructure in the future.

Nearly two decades of building the foundation

Returning to the case of T&T Group, it was not until Savan 1 created a “miracle” in Laos that the energy sector of this Group was mentioned. When developing renewable energy is an inevitable global trend, Mr. Hien’s business has made early preparations, from afar.

In a rare sharing with the press at the end of 2021, this discreet businessman said that 15 years ago, he had been wondering about the direction of Vietnamese energy: “Since T&T was established, I have participated in many forums and conferences; had the opportunity to meet many prestigious international organizations, businesses, experts, and managers. From these meetings, I asked the question: Why do many countries with the same starting point as Vietnam achieve high development in many fields such as agriculture , industry, and environment?”.

Nearly two decades ago, Mr. Hien's T&T Group prepared its mindset and resources for the renewable energy playground.

Regarding energy, Mr. Hien soon commented: In Vietnam, in the past, priority was given to developing hydroelectricity and coal power. This is an inevitable development law that most countries have gone through. But now, developed countries have switched directly from coal and hydroelectricity to renewable energy.

"Since then, I have thought that Vietnam will also follow the same trend," Mr. Hien said.

Not stopping at the idea, the businessman born in 1962 quickly started to prepare his mindset, potential and strategy, ready for the "inevitable transition" in the future. He studied, researched, and raised the issue of cooperation with partners to develop renewable energy. At the same time, his business also had opinions with state management agencies to gradually include renewable energy in the electricity industry development plan. Continuously in the following years, closely following the Government's policy, T&T persistently planned strategies for the playground which was still very new and full of confusion.

The process of accumulating and preparing resources is like a spring that has been compressed for a long time; then it really burst out in 2020, when T&T decided to develop renewable energy as a key business area of the Group.

Flywheel effect and great resilience of T&T

In June 2020, Phuoc Ninh Solar Power Plant was officially put into operation by T&T Group after only 4 months of construction. Not long after, 3 other similar projects of Mr. Hien continued to connect to the grid, bringing the total electricity capacity contributed by this Group in the "starting year" to 245MW.

From that first step, the chain of energy projects under the T&T brand quickly expanded across the country. Currently, the Group has deployed cumulative investment with a total investment capacity of nearly 2,900 MW; of which 877 MW has been completed and put into operation for power generation.

Phuoc Ninh Solar Power Plant marks T&T's first step in the energy sector after 15 years of accumulating mindset and resources.

To explain the great resilience of T&T in the energy playground, let's mention one of the classic theories of economics. In 2001, in the book From Good to Great, Professor Jim Collins, the world's leading management expert, introduced the concept of the Flywheel Effect to explain the leap of many large enterprises around the world. He wrote: "Imagine you are pushing a giant steel flywheel. At first it is heavy, almost motionless. You have to put all your strength into each first rotation, slowly, with difficulty. But then, after hundreds of persistent rotations, the flywheel begins to rotate faster, lighter, until it operates on its own kinetic energy that you have accumulated."

“The business flywheel does not spin on dreams and then leave them there, but on repeated, consistent, and directed actions… And the leader is the one who starts that flywheel first,” he concluded.

Phuoc Huu - Duyen Hai 1 Wind Power Project of T&T Group.

Looking at T&T Group, especially in the energy sector, we can clearly see this classic rule. Nearly 2 decades ago, Mr. Hien started the flywheel. He and T&T spent the next many years persistently "accumulating momentum", preparing resources to achieve a leap forward in the 2020-2025 period.

From the existing foundation, Mr. Hien's T&T is looking far and thinking big, with the mindset of contributing to building the national strategic energy infrastructure. This is demonstrated by large-scale projects, typically the 1,500MW Hai Lang LNG Power Plant in Quang Tri. When operational in 2029, the project will turn Quang Tri into the largest clean energy center in the Central region. T&T Group is also a pioneer in potential new energy fields such as offshore wind power, LNG Hub, green hydrogen; investing in a factory to produce battery energy storage systems (BESS)...

Perspective of Hai Lang LNG Power Project (Quang Tri).

In the medium term, T&T aims to achieve a total power generation capacity of 16-20GW by 2035, accounting for about 10% of the total installed capacity of Vietnam's power system, most of which is from clean energy sources, towards the common goal of bringing Vietnam to net zero emissions by 2050.

In the long term, T&T proposes to study and build a model of a high-tech renewable energy supporting industrial park in Vietnam with a sustainable vision. As Mr. Hien once shared: “In the future, when Vietnam develops many renewable energy projects, the demand for materials and equipment of the industry will be very large, and will have to be imported if not produced domestically. Therefore, we think that in the next 10 years, when investing in many renewable energy projects, it is necessary to have a renewable energy industry and supporting industries. When there is a renewable energy supporting industry, it will not only serve the domestic market but also export to the region because the general trend is also to develop wind power and solar power”.

Fatherland, people and technology

Observing T&T’s journey of nearly 2 decades of “devotion” to the energy sector, it is not surprising at all about the series of miracles that this “empire” has created and is creating. Besides the classic story of flywheel inertia, according to experts, one of the core “secrets” of Mr. Hien also lies in always putting the 3 factors of Fatherland, technology and people first.

The Tiger businessman was frank: Energy cannot be done in a hurry, asking for projects is not just for profit, but the aspiration to create sustainable values for society, community, and country.

He said: “Someone advised: Mr. Hien, doing energy is very hard, investing a lot of money. It sounds impressive but it is risky, takes a long time. But the country needs technology, businesses need technology. Only with technology can we become billionaires, only with technology can we regulate production. I am very passionate about technology, if I want to go fast and develop, it must be high technology. I am interested in technology in all areas and focus on high technology.”

This viewpoint is most clearly demonstrated through the way T&T cooperates with foreign partners. Mr. Hien's group is currently "joining hands" with many of the world's leading partners in the energy sector such as: Hanwha, Kogas, Kospo, SK Innovation (Korea); erex, Marubeni, Sojitz, JPower (Japan); Cospower, Gedi, Goldwind (China), BP (UK), Vinacom (Laos)...

He stated his point of view: In cooperation, the two sides need to agree on strategic goals, which must adhere to the national vision; at the same time, ensure that both sides always maintain the Win-Win principle, with mutual benefits. However, this process must always be accompanied by the "condition" of transferring technology and training human resources for the Vietnamese side, so that within a certain period of time, they can be autonomous in technology and management.

“My point of view is that foreign partners when entering Vietnam need to invest effectively, but at the same time they also need to contribute and invest in the sustainable development of Vietnam. They cannot invest to make a profit and then withdraw, because then our country will eventually not be able to access technology, people will not be trained, and Vietnam will not be able to develop. I told my partners this point of view directly. At first they did not like it because they were somewhat pressured, but later they really appreciated it,” Mr. Hien said frankly.

Also according to the head of T&T Group, many partners later sent letters, expressing their appreciation for T&T Group's community spirit, always wanting Vietnamese people to access and acquire technology, and for Vietnam to develop sustainably.

“Talking about the year 2045, what does Vietnam need to become an economically developed country? It needs people. If you want people, you have to train them, and if you want to train people the fastest, you have to learn from foreign partners, work while learning, there is nothing better than practice, technology transfer and on-site training,” Mr. Hien emphasized.

Commenting on Mr. Hien and his aspirations in the energy sector, Associate Professor Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, Member of the Prime Minister's Policy Advisory Council, affirmed: "Through monitoring and contact, I see that Mr. Do Quang Hien is one of the leading businessmen supporting the above policy with clean energy projects being implemented."

Back to the present time, T&T Group has just entered the 32-year milestone of formation and development. Like other fields, with the "energy field", T&T is increasingly asserting its position. Domestically, a series of projects with the T&T brand have been, are and are making great contributions to solving the problem of national energy security. Abroad, Savan 1 Wind Power Plant is also ready to bring clean electricity to Vietnam. In the near future, Mr. Hien's enterprise is also continuing to research and invest in many large projects in Nha Trang, Ca Mau... with the intention of forming "export hubs" of electricity to regional and world markets.

Looking at the big picture, the solid steps in both breadth and depth mentioned above have laid solid bricks on the path of sustainable development of T&T. On a larger scale, this is a testament to the aspiration to accompany the country in developing sustainable energy; creating a foundation for the goal of double-digit growth in the future.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/khi-doanh-nghiep-tu-nhan-tao-gia-tri-ben-vung-tu-nang-luong-tai-tao-725656.html