Using energy economically and efficiently is an important solution to ensure energy security, reduce dependence on imported fuels, and improve economic efficiency. For manufacturing enterprises, saving energy not only helps improve production efficiency and save costs, but also helps enterprises meet environmental criteria, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve competitiveness in the context of increasingly scarce fuel sources and natural resources, and increasingly strict regulations and green standards for goods on the international market.
In order to spread models of energy saving and efficiency under the new mechanism that benefits both the state and enterprises, the DEPP3 Program pilots the Voluntary Agreement on Energy Saving Program. The Voluntary Agreement on Energy Saving is a cooperation model between the state and enterprises in promoting energy saving and efficiency activities in industries, in which, when enterprises voluntarily commit to implementing energy saving solutions, they will receive technical support from the government such as providing experts to help identify potential energy saving solutions that are feasible so that they can be deployed from ideas to investment projects to realize the energy saving goals of enterprises as well as the country.
Piloting new incentive mechanisms
Mr. Hoang Van Tam - Representative of DEPP3 Program Management Board, Head of Climate Change and Green Growth Group, Director of Department of Energy Saving and Sustainable Development ( Ministry of Industry and Trade )
Mr. Hoang Van Tam - Representative of the DEPP3 Program Management Board, Head of the Climate Change and Green Growth Group, Department of Energy Saving and Sustainable Development (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that the VAS Program is a form of voluntary agreement between state management agencies and enterprises, especially key energy consuming enterprises, with the goal of supporting enterprises to use energy effectively, save costs, thereby improving the production and business efficiency of enterprises.
According to Mr. Hoang Van Tam, this is not the first voluntary agreement program implemented in Vietnam. In the period 2015-2017, within the framework of the Energy Efficiency and Cleaner Production Project in Vietnam funded by the World Bank, the Ministry of Industry and Trade also introduced a pilot voluntary program on energy efficiency. However, the VAS Program still has new points that bring many benefits to businesses.
“The difference in this Voluntary Agreement Program is the technical support of domestic and international consultants, especially experts from Denmark who have experience in successfully implementing voluntary agreement programs for businesses and units in Denmark,” Mr. Hoang Van Tam emphasized.
Regarding the criteria for selecting enterprises to participate in VAS, Mr. Jorgen Hvid - Long-term Advisor of the DEPP3 Program, said that there are a number of key criteria, the most important of which is that enterprises must be truly interested and willing to invest in potential energy-saving projects. In addition, enterprises also need to closely coordinate with the Program's consultants during the cooperation process to ensure the quality and progress of the reports. In return, enterprises will receive many practical benefits. "The program will help enterprises choose the most optimal options, with great potential and high feasibility, suitable for the development needs and conditions of the enterprise" - Mr. Jorgen Hvid shared more.
Practical benefits for business
Coming to the VAS Program, businesses will receive technical support to realize energy saving goals through specific support from experts of the DEPP3 Program such as conducting energy audits according to international standards, thereby discovering feasible saving solutions, experts can help businesses build pre-feasibility and feasibility technical reports that can be converted into loan applications to approach financial institutions and finally the business's decision to invest.
Through technical support activities, businesses will improve their management and technical capacity on energy saving, as well as access to technical guidance documents and best practices on improving energy efficiency so that they can proactively implement energy saving solutions in the future. This is also an opportunity to improve the capacity of the staff working in energy management, creating the premise and foundation for sustainable energy management and use activities in the business.
Positive signals
Song Da Cao Cuong Joint Stock Company (SCL) is one of the pioneering enterprises participating in the VAS Program in 2023. Mr. Vu Van Chien - General Director of SCL said that as a science and technology enterprise in the field of construction materials production, the company's Board of Directors is always interested in energy saving and sustainable production. The "pressure" and joy of the technical team is to continuously seek innovative solutions and new technologies to optimize processes and improve production efficiency for the factory, Mr. Chien shared.
With the support of the Program, the Company has discovered many opportunities and solutions to significantly improve energy efficiency such as renovating the steam system and recovering high-pressure water, optimizing the boiler combustion process, renovating the exhaust heat recovery system, etc.
On this basis, the Board of Directors of the enterprise has selected a priority solution and proposed to receive technical support from the DEPP3 Program to conduct a feasibility study, ready to invest in implementing the solution as soon as the research results are available.
Mr. Vu Van Chien - General Director of Song Da Cao Cuong Joint Stock Company: "We evaluate the Program chaired by the Ministry of Industry and Trade with the coordination of Denmark as very good for production units in general and construction material production enterprises such as Song Da Cao Cuong Joint Stock Company in particular. The Program has helped enterprises with methods for energy auditing, synchronous solutions to ensure energy savings"
Similarly, NatSteel Vina Co., Ltd. is also one of four enterprises participating in the VAS Program pilot in 2023. Surveys and assessments show that the enterprise has many opportunities to improve energy efficiency. One of the proposed priority solutions is to renovate the RHF furnace to optimize the combustion process. The solution not only helps improve furnace efficiency and reduce emissions, but also brings benefits beyond the initial goal of reducing oxide scale formation on steel billets.
Preliminary calculations show that the solution can help businesses reduce production costs by about VND4 billion per year, through reducing the amount of FO oil consumed and reducing the wear and tear of input materials. At the same time, businesses will also reduce about 440 tons of CO2 emissions per year. The project's payback period is expected to be less than 2 years.
Mr. Le Khac Giang - Deputy Director of Energy Management, Deputy Head of Production Department of NatSteel Vina Co., Ltd. said: “Previously, the company also invited a number of consulting units to find solutions to upgrade the furnace control system but did not achieve results. After accessing the pre-feasibility report of the Project, the company was able to identify the potential and methods of applying technology to improve the efficiency of the furnace.”
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has organized a number of workshops to introduce the VAS Program to businesses across the country.
From the initial positive signals, the VAS Program has partly proven its effectiveness in supporting businesses to overcome technical barriers, move towards a more complete and comprehensive awareness of energy saving potentials, and move closer to the decision to invest in energy efficiency.
Based on the review of the pilot results of the Program, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will consider proposing to competent authorities to issue mechanisms and policies to apply and replicate this model in the coming time with the goal of achieving dual economic and environmental benefits for both the state and enterprises to contribute to the implementation of the goal of ensuring national energy security, green growth, reducing greenhouse gas emissions to achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has built the VAS Program website at: https://vas.depp3.vn/ to support businesses in finding official information about projects, support ... and how to register to participate in the Program. The VAS Program website is not only a place to provide information but also a bridge between state management agencies and businesses, accompanying and supporting businesses in the process of implementing energy saving, reducing greenhouse gas emissions towards the goal of net zero emissions by 2050. |
Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/su-dung-nang-luong-tiet-kiem-va-hieu-qua/loi-ich-cho-doanh-nghiep-tham-gia-chuong-trinh-thoa-thuan-tu-nguyen-ve-tiet-kiem-nang-luong.html
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