Rapid and sustainable development of energy sources to meet economic development requirements

Implementing Vietnam's National Energy Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045 according to Resolution No. 55-NQ/TW dated February 11, 2020 of the Politburo, the plan of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee, the province's energy system has been invested in relatively fast and sustainable development, serving production and business, and the needs of the people.

The national power grid system is invested in construction to 100% of commune, ward and town centers.
(Photo: Bac Kan Electricity repairs power lines in Bac Kan city)

In particular, the national power grid system has been invested in and built to 100% of commune, ward and town centers with 98.2% of households using it, ensuring safe and stable electricity supply. The distribution and supply system of liquefied petroleum gas and gasoline has been invested in and built to cover all districts and cities and basically meets the requirements of socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security; the energy system has appropriate connectivity and backup and requirements for ecological environment protection. However, the province's power grid system has not yet covered all villages, hamlets and groups of households in the whole province. There are currently 1,700 households in 45 villages, hamlets and groups of households that have not used the national power grid.

Regarding hydropower, according to the approved plan, there are 15 hydropower projects with a total capacity of 68 MW. The investment efficiency of hydropower projects is relatively good. Currently, there are 6 hydropower projects operating stably, supplementing the national grid, with electricity output in 2024 reaching 56 million kWh, accounting for 18% of the province's total electricity consumption. In 2024, hydropower plants in the province contributed 13.8 billion VND to the state budget, contributing to job creation and socio-economic development of the locality. Currently, there is 1 small hydropower project under construction with a capacity of 4.2 MW; investors are completing procedures to prepare to start construction of 7 projects with a total capacity of 40.1 MW; 1 project is selecting investors with a capacity of 3.4 MW.

For wind, biomass, solar and waste energy of the province has been approved with a total capacity of nearly 3,000 MW of renewable energy according to the National Power Development Plan for the period 2021 - 2030, vision to 2050 (referred to as Power Plan VIII) in Decision No. 500/QD-TTg dated May 15, 2023 of the Prime Minister, this is the potential energy source of the province to call for investment in the coming time.

Research and application of achievements of the 4.0 industrial revolution in activities in the energy sector have been focused on. Enterprises operating in the energy sector have converted manual management using books and documents to electronic management; non-automated activities have been converted to automatic ones; new technologies have been applied to replace old, outdated technologies, taking advantage of the power of digital technology and digital data to improve production and business efficiency and labor productivity. The electricity industry has invested in modernizing the transmission, distribution and sales of electricity.

The province has implemented a program to manage electricity demand and adjust load for production customers in the province according to the National Program on electricity demand management for the period 2018 - 2020, with a vision to 2030 , ensuring the requirement to reduce electricity loss during transmission and distribution, accordingly, the rate of electricity loss gradually decreases over the years.

Along with that, the province has implemented electricity saving measures such as purchasing electrical equipment according to regulations; encouraging the use of electrical equipment with energy labels; propagating and mobilizing people to save electricity through the programs "Responding to the Earth Hour Campaign", "Families save electricity", "Schools join hands to save electricity" ...; encouraging households to use solar energy equipment, install rooftop solar power systems for their families and connect to the national grid with a voltage of 0.4kV. Up to now, the whole province has 24 organizations and individuals installing solar power systems connected to the national grid with a total installed capacity of 230.12 kWh, the annual electricity output reaches 123,000 kWh; in addition, there are a number of organizations and individuals who have installed self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power without connecting to the national grid. According to statistics from the Department of Industry and Trade, from 2020 to 2024, the whole province saved 18,820kWh of electricity.

Plan No. 771/KH-UBND dated December 24, 2020 of the Provincial People's Committee on implementing Plan No. 187-KH/TU of the Provincial Party Standing Committee to implement Resolution No. 55-NQ/TW dated February 11, 2020 of the Politburo on the orientation of Vietnam's national energy development strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045, defines the goal: "...firmly ensure energy security; provide sufficient, stable, high-quality energy at reasonable prices for rapid and sustainable socio-economic development, ensure national defense and security; improve people's lives, contribute to protecting the ecological environment; effectively exploit and use domestic energy resources in combination with reasonable energy import and export; thoroughly practice energy saving and efficient use; upgrade and build advanced and modern power transmission and distribution grids".

The target by 2030 is that the total capacity of renewable energy sources will reach about 57.3MW (electricity output will reach about 194.47 million kWh). Of which, medium and small hydropower is expected to reach about 55.3MW (electricity output will reach about 191.67 million kWh); solar power is expected to reach about 2MW (electricity output will reach about 2.8 million kWh). Building a synchronous power grid system for efficient operation, with the ability to connect regions, ensuring safe power supply. The energy saving rate on total final energy consumption compared to the normal development scenario according to the requirements of the 2021 - 2030 period is about 5 - 7%. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy activities compared to the normal development scenario, contributing to completing the overall target of the whole country (15% in 2030 and 20% in 2045).

In order to rapidly and sustainably develop energy sources to meet the requirements of socio-economic development and ensure national defense and security, in the coming time, the province will continue to research and innovate mechanisms and policies, develop a synchronous, interconnected, modern, efficient and socialist-oriented energy market. Create a favorable and transparent environment; remove all barriers to attract and encourage private participation in investment and development of domestic and foreign energy projects, focusing on power generation projects and wholesale and retail electricity activities according to market mechanisms. Implement flexible and effective credit policies, creating favorable conditions for energy enterprises to access capital sources, especially enterprises with green energy projects. Implement environmental protection policies in the energy sector associated with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting circular economy and sustainable development. Have mechanisms and policies to encourage the development of environmental industries associated with the energy sector.

Based on approved energy development projects and plans, the province will continue to invite foreign investors and foreign-affiliated enterprises to invest in renewable energy projects; at the same time, promote administrative procedure reform, creating favorable conditions to attract foreign investors to invest in the province.../.

Source: https://backan.gov.vn/Pages/phat-trien-nhanh-va-ben-vung-cac-nguon-nang-luong--9675.aspx