This is the opinion of experts at the workshop "Wind power and the Net Zero target by 2050" Forum held on the morning of May 26, in Hanoi. Dr. Nguyen Linh Ngoc - Chairman of the Vietnam Clean Water and Environment Association - former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment said that with this goal, Vietnam can completely achieve carbon neutrality in the energy sector in particular and carbon neutrality in general by 2050, creating a foundation for the development of the wind power industry and bringing a long-term solution to Vietnam's economic development strategy.
According to Dr. Nguyen Linh Ngoc, Vietnam’s important orientation in the coming decades is to move towards a low-carbon economy and green growth. In Vietnam’s efforts to achieve its committed target of net zero emissions by 2050, wind power is a major contributor to the energy mix. The Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8) predicts that wind power, not solar power, will drive the next phase of Vietnam’s renewable energy transition.
With the focus shifting to renewable energy, wind power is expected to be the most invested group in Vietnam. Strengthening the development of wind power output are the limitations of solar and hydropower, paving the way for wind power to take a central position in renewable energy development.
Assessing the change in power sources, Dr. Du Van Toan, Renewable Energy Expert, Institute of Marine and Island Research (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) said that Vietnam is one of the 10 leading countries in the world in investing in power sources using renewable energy (wind power and solar power). To move towards the Net Zero goal by 2050, the proportion of renewable energy capacity will gradually increase: 25% in 2020; nearly 32% in 2030, and nearly 58% in 2045.
Regarding offshore wind power, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has completed the draft Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 40/2016/ND-CP dated May 15, 2016 of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Marine and Island Resources and Environment and Decree No. 11/2021/ND-CP; including regulations on licensing investigation and survey for the construction of offshore wind power projects. The new draft has added regulations on dossiers, procedures for appraisal, issuance of documents approving the measurement, monitoring and assessment of marine resources.
However, to develop wind power to achieve the planning target, Dr. Du Van Toan recommends that it is necessary to build a legal framework for renewable energy and GHGs, including: Law on renewable energy (solar power, offshore wind, waves, etc.); decrees and circulars regulating renewable energy, GHGs, environmental protection issues, carbon neutrality; National standards, technical regulations, management policies, recycling and waste collection from renewable energy (solar panels, wind turbines, wave turbines, etc.). In addition, the State needs to have a long-term development roadmap for renewable energy and GHGs; long-term energy planning, electricity planning, and marine spatial planning, linked with other economic sectors.
Speaking at the forum, Mr. Luong Quang Huy, Head of the Department of Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation and Ozone Layer Protection, Department of Climate Change - Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said: According to the updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Report, the updated NDC has set an emission reduction target of 43.5% by 2030 if there is international support, which means that Vietnam will have to reduce about 400 million tons of CO2 compared to the business-as-usual scenario. Vietnam has made an international commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 and participated in the Global Declaration on the Transition from Coal to Clean Energy, and the Commitment to Reduce Global Methane Emissions. These are huge pressures on Vietnam's electricity development process. The Law on Environmental Protection 2020 has stipulated the implementation of greenhouse gas emission reduction and specified it in the documents guiding the implementation of the law, especially in Decree 06/2022-ND-CP.
Offshore wind power is considered a breakthrough solution to ensure national energy security, reduce dependence on imported fuel, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This sector also helps create jobs, promote local socio-economic development, and improve people's lives. With efforts to invest in transmission systems as well as smart dispatching, wind power can completely become the main source of Vietnam's energy system in the future - Mr. Huy affirmed.
Sharing about the challenges for investors in renewable energy, Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung - Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Halcom Vietnam Joint Stock Company said that the most obvious difficulty is that related policies are not clear, such as the long approval time for the VIII Power Plan, the negotiation of electricity price contracts, and the lack of documents and regulations guiding the implementation of renewable energy projects after the VIII Power Plan is approved. The current investment incentives have not attracted foreign investors. Power generation to the grid also depends on the transmission capacity of the national power system. The application time of FIT electricity price is short, making it difficult to negotiate loans for large-capacity renewable energy projects with long construction time...
Financial resources are an important component of the Energy Transition, unlocking capital for renewable energy production projects including wind power and supporting businesses and investors to participate in climate change response activities, resource management and environmental protection to achieve Vietnam's green growth goals.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Thi An, Director of the Institute of Natural Resources, Environment and Community Development, the implementation of the 8th Power Plan to ensure the development of renewable energy, including wind power, is a long process. The Government needs to assess the current situation of the energy issue in the past year, the difficulties, the unsold electricity produced, and the lack of transmission. Ms. Pham Thi An suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade should make the price of coal-fired electricity transparent to have a basis for comparing the cost price with the import price. If this can be done, the 8th Power Plan can be said to solve the environmental problem in the energy transition process, ensuring the goal of Net Zero by 2050.
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