Building a clean energy model for sustainable economic development

Many solutions to support renewable energy were proposed and discussed by experts at the Forum "Ensuring energy security for sustainable economic development in Vietnam" organized by Environmental Economics Magazine in collaboration with other organizations on the afternoon of September 20.

Xây dựng mô hình năng lượng sạch để phát triển kinh tế bền vững

Overview of the Forum "Ensuring energy security for sustainable economic development in Vietnam". (Photo: Thanh Chan)

The forum aims to provide an overview and forecast scenarios of energy fluctuations in the world , and at the same time analyze and clarify the impact of the energy crisis on global growth and possibly lead to economic recession.

The Forum was attended by nearly 200 delegates from Ministries, Departments; Associations and Unions; domestic and international organizations; centers, research institutes and universities; state and private corporations and groups; central and local press agencies;...

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Luu Duc Hai - Chairman of the Vietnam Environmental Economics Association , the world is currently facing a global energy crisis that is taking place at a challenging time for countries, especially in the context of the economy recovering from the pandemic.

The main causes of the global energy crisis can be listed as follows: First , the world's energy demand has recovered strongly in the post-Covid-19 period, especially from China. Second , Europe's increasing dependence on natural gas energy sources. Third , the impact of energy supply and demand has pushed gas and coal prices to record highs, causing electricity prices to increase sharply. Fourth , the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine is expected to have an impact on long-term energy demand, and accelerate the transition to renewable and low-carbon energy worldwide, which also puts pressure on energy supply and demand.

The inevitable direction

In Vietnam, although the energy transition process has achieved significant results, helping to reduce dependence on imported energy and diversify primary energy sources, the negative impacts of the global energy crisis on Vietnam are inevitable.

With the trend of industrialization and modernization, Vietnam's energy demand is constantly increasing, while the supply is increasingly depleted. Therefore, developing renewable energy is an inevitable direction to ensure energy security, in line with Vietnam's commitment at COP 26. However, in the process of investing and implementing renewable energy projects, businesses still encounter many difficulties.

Statistics show that Vietnam is a country with relatively diverse energy sources. However, our country is still a country with low energy production and consumption per capita. In addition, facing the requirements of industrialization and modernization of the country, Vietnam's energy demand is constantly increasing, while energy supply is increasingly depleted. Therefore, Vietnam needs a specific roadmap for building a clean energy model in the future.

“Vietnam has great potential for renewable energy (green energy), especially wind and solar energy, so it has enough capacity to use it in the transition process to generate electricity, gradually reducing electricity produced by fossil fuels,” Mr. Hai emphasized.

Many problems

Mr. Nguyen Huu Thai Hoa, representative of the Strategy Department, Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), said that before October 30, 2021, many businesses invested heavily in renewable energy thanks to good policies and good electricity purchase prices. When investing, what businesses care about is profit. However, at this time, businesses do not dare to do it, the current electricity price is not enough to attract investors to this field.

"Our country wants green growth and renewable energy development, so we also need to clarify who will bear the risks when entering a new field, new mechanisms and policies, while the solution is not in the hands of the Vietnamese people," Mr. Hoa raised the issue.

Many projects that businesses want to do are stuck in the mechanism, so the representative of PVN's Strategy Board believes that it is necessary to untie the FS R&D research mechanism and invite international investors to develop sustainable energy with Vietnam.

Regarding the issue of electricity prices, Associate Professor Dr. Ngo Tri Long said that to ensure energy security, the two most important factors are stable supply and low cost. Currently, the energy industry in our country is still monopolistic, not allowing businesses and the market to decide on selling prices. Therefore, the current shortage of electricity and gasoline is partly due to the failure to calculate correctly, fully and promptly all types of costs for businesses. The biggest bottleneck of the electricity industry is still the price.

According to Prof. Dr. Hoang Xuan Co, General Secretary of the Vietnam Environmental Economics Association, although the two renewable energy sources, wind power and solar power, have been supported for development by the Government , the cost of generating electricity from these two types of energy is still high, so it is necessary for organizations, management agencies, and communities to be clearly aware in order to take action and activities to promote the development of wind power and solar power, gradually replacing coal power in the future.

From there, Prof. Dr. Hoang Xuan Co suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade soon issue a roadmap to increase electricity prices for consumers on the basis of increasing the purchase of wind and solar power at high prices in the coming period, first until 2030 and beyond.

On the part of the people and businesses, there must also be a plan to adjust the level of electricity use reasonably and effectively (in the direction of saving) and if the increase in electricity prices is reasonable, it must be considered as the "willingness to pay" level to have clean electricity for consumption. When switching to green electricity, an increase in electricity prices will be inevitable, but the roadmap must also be considered to avoid causing major disruptions in economic activities and people's lives.

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