Vietnam plans to raise green hydrogen output

Vietnam plans to expand its annual hydrogen output produced by renewable energy to 100,000-200,000 tons in 2030 and 10-20 million tons in 2050, according to a draft strategy released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The ministry emphasized hydrogen is considered the key source to replace fossil fuel in Vietnam’s energy plan in the future, towards the country’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

The ministry’s draft document showed that Vietnam’s current hydrogen production comes mainly from oil refinery and fertilizer production, and is then used to remove unwanted factors from the final products.

This hydrogen is classified as grey or brown hydrogen, a product made from fossil fuels. The annual output of such hydrogen in Vietnam reaches 500,000 tons, higher than the demand of 316,000 tons, mostly from fertilizer producers.

Meanwhile, green hydrogen, or hydrogen made from renewable energy, is not available in Vietnam at the moment. However, some businesses have drafted plans to manufacture green hydrogen. For example, Taiwan-based Enterprize Energy is mulling a 2,000 MW offshore wind power project in the central province of Binh Thuan to electrolyze seawater into hydrogen. The $5-billion project has been approved by the Prime Minister for surveying.

Besides, the Vietnam-based The Green Solutions Group began building a green hydrogen factory in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh in March 2023 and is processing a similar project in the neighboring province of Ben Tre.

About usage, in 2023-2030, the ministry plans to conduct pilot simultaneous use of hydrogen, coal, and ammonia at gas-fired and coal-fired power plants. The transport sector should apply trial runs of hydrogen-powered public and long-trip transport. The industrial sector should use green hydrogen in fertilizer production, oil refineries, and steel production.

By 2050, gas-fired and LNG-fired power factories should transition to using hydrogen, the ministry noted.

Regarding solutions, the ministry proposed policies related to the legal framework. In particular, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should be empowered to join the mission. Vietnam should utilize foreign resources such as the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) to finance these tasks, while calling for investments from the private sector and the public-private partnerships (PPP).

Advanced countries are devoting a lot of effort, intelligence and funds to green hydrogen/ammonia. If Vietnam catches up with the trend, the country may become one of the first to apply this technology, said Dr. Nguyen Duc Kien, former head of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory group.