Solar, wind power insufficient for Vietnam’s energy security: expert

Electricity generation from liquefied natural gas (LNG), biomass, ammonia, and hydrogen should be thoroughly considered to help Vietnam achieve its carbon neutrality goal, an American specialist said.

Addressing an energy seminar in Hanoi on Wednesday, energy expert Sean Lawlor from the U.S. Embassy, said as a long-term partner of Vietnam, the U.S. is recommending Vietnam to take creative policy measures to attract foreign investment and step up energy transition to help implement the carbon neutrality commitments Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in late 2021.

He added that solely relying on wind and solar power would not assure energy security, therefore, other sources like LNG, biomass, ammonia, and hydrogen should be on the priority list.

Lawlor said that Austria, Germany and other European economies have resumed operation of coal-fired power plants to counter the lack of Russia-supplied gas, but that they had to develop cleaner energy sources for long-term goals.

Coal-fired power is making up one-third of Vietnam’s total output, according to a report at the seminar. The country looks to reduce the proportion of this type of electricity to about 9.5% and raise renewables to 32% by 2045. The energy-thirsty economy is also encouraging low-carbon power sources to minimize emissions.

As of the end of 2021, Vietnam’s total wind and solar power installed was about 20,670 megawatts, accounting for 27% of the total installed capacity, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's department of electricity and renewable energy.

At the seminar, experts proposed several measures to support the country’s clean energy transition.

Deepak Maloo, head of wind power, Asia-Pacific region, General Electric, said finance and reasonable pricing are problems that any country has to encounter in the transition process. A possible measure, he said, is the integrated development of various energy sources together taking advantage of global technology.

Ho Chi Minh City-based private company TGS Green Hydrogen is preparing construction of its $840 million green hydrogen plant in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, the country’s first hydrogen project.

The modern facility is designed to annually produce 24,000 tons of green hydrogen, 150,000 tons of ammonia, and 195,000 tons of oxygen in the initial state, according to a government release. The energy developer expects to put the plant into trial operation in the first quarter of 2024.

Regarding LNG-to-power, PM Chinh in early June ordered the industry ministry to recalculate the ratio of LNG power in the country’s energy mix under the draft power development plan VIII as the soaring price of imported LNG might make LNG-to-power plants until 2030 infeasible.

“Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the price of imported LNG has soared to 15-20 U.S cents/kWh, while the current electricity selling price is 6-7 cents/kWh,” the prime minister wrote in a document sent to the ministry.

“This will be a hindrance to future negotiations on power purchase agreements between investors and Electricity of Vietnam. Moreover, LNG is a kind of fossil fuel that only helps cut CO2 emissions by half compared to coal-fired power,” the document read.

For renewable energy, policy-makers, industry insiders and experts are at odds over whether regulators should launch a bidding mechanism to select investors, or select investors via both bidding and non-bidding.