Day: May 28, 2023

Electricity imports from Laos and China accounted for just a modest part of the total electricity demand of Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Dang Hoang An.

An made the statement in response to National Assembly deputies’ question about why Vietnam had not connected domestic renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 4,600 MW to the national power grid but increased imports from Laos and China.

NA deputy Ta Thi Yen said at a meeting late last week that while the negotiations of pricing to connect renewable energy projects to the national power grid faced roadblocks, Vietnam was forced to increase the import from Laos and China to make up for the shortage. This was a huge waste when hundreds of solar and wind power energy projects could not generate power for consumption while the economy was facing a severe shortage of electricity, she said.

In response, An said that Vietnam imported electricity not because of the shortage. The country has been buying from China since 2005 via transmission lines in Lao Cai and Ha Giang provinces and from Laos, mostly hydroelectricity, following an intergovernmental cooperation agreement in 2019.

The electricity import from Laos was around 7 million kWh per day and 4 million kWh from China, very modest compared to the daily consumption demand, estimated at around 445-450 million kWh in the northern region.

An said that the purchase was under cooperation agreements with countries in the Greater Mekong sub-region, which would enable the connection of the power grid with other countries in the region. In addition, the electricity master plan No 8 also set out the target of exporting renewable energy to neighbouring countries.

Vietnam had 220 kV line linking with Laos and 110 kV with China. Under the commitments with Laos, Vietnam would import at least 3,000 MW from this country by 2025 and 5,000 by 2030.

An pointed out that the electricity import from Laos and China increased this year because of a shortage of supply caused by extreme weather and drought in the dry season.

The electricity import price was lower than some domestic sources, according to the ministry.

For example, it was around 6.5 cent or 1,540 VND per kWh from China and 6.9 cent from Laos. Statistics of Vietnam Electricity (EVN) showed that the average electricity purchasing price was around 1,845-2,200 VND per kWh in the first three months of this year, meaning that the prices from Laos and China were lower than some domestic sources.

Bui Van Thinh, President of the Binh Dinh Wind Power Association, said that power shortage was mainly in the northern region while renewable energy projects were concentrated in the central and southern regions, creating pressure on the North–South 500 kV transmission network.

Buying electricity from China and Laos is reasonable, he said.

Regarding the roadblocks to the connection of more than 4,600 MW of renewable energy to the national power grid, An said that many projects had not met legal procedures due to violations of regulations about planning, land and construction investment.

He said that removing the roadblocks for renewable energy projects was being hastened based on the harmonisation of all sides’ benefits.

EVN’s statistics showed that there were 52 wind and solar power projects with a total capacity of 3,155 MW which had applied for negotiations. Of them, 42 with a total capacity of nearly 2,259 MW completed pricing negotiations with EVN. About 33 projects with a total capacity of 1,581 MW had not applied for negotiations.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade approved temporary prices for 19 projects with a total capacity of 1,347 MW. As of May 26, five projects with a total capacity of 303 MW were eligible for commercial operation, meaning that the power system would have an additional supply source of more than 300 MW from these plants in the next few days./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Global investment in clean energy is on course to rise to USD1.7 trillion in 2023, with solar set to eclipse oil production for the first time. Investment in clean energy technologies is significantly outpacing spending on fossil fuels as affordability and security concerns triggered by the global energy crisis strengthen the momentum behind more sustainable options, according to a new IEA report. About USD2.8 trillion is set to be invested globally in energy in 2023, of which more than USD1.7 trillion is expected to go to clean technologies -including renewables, electric vehicles, nuclear power, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency improvements and heat pumps- according to the IEA’s latest World Energy Investment report. The remainder, slightly more than USD 1 trillion, is going to coal, gas and oil. Annual clean energy investment is expected to rise by 24 percent between 2021 and 2023, driven by renewables and electric vehicles, compared with a 15 percent rise in fossil fuel investment over the same period. But more than 90 percent of this increase comes from advanced economies and China, presenting a serious risk of new dividing lines in global energy if clean energy transitions do not pick up elsewhere. ‘Clean energy is moving fast – faster than many people realize. This is clear in the investment trends, where clean technologies are pulling away from fossil fuels,’ IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. ‘For every dollar invested in fossil fuels, about 1.7 dollars are now going into clean energy. Five years ago, this ratio was one-to-one. One shining example is investment in solar, which is set to overtake the amount of investment going into oil production for the first time.’ Led by solar, low-emissions electricity technologies are expected to account for almost 90 percent of investment in power generation. Consumers are also investing in more electrified end-uses. Global heat pump sales have seen double-digit annual growth since 2021. Electric vehicle sales are expected to leap by a third this year after already surging in 2022. Clean energy investments have been boosted by a variety of factors in recent years, including periods of strong economic growth and volatile fossil fuel prices that raised concerns about energy security, especially following the crisis in Ukraine. Enhanced policy support through major actions like the US Inflation Reduction Act and initiatives in Europe, Japan, China and elsewhere have also played a role. Spending on upstream oil and gas is expected to rise by 7 percent in 2023, taking it back to 2019 levels. The few oil companies that are investing more than before the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic are mostly large national oil companies in the Middle East. Many fossil fuel producers made record profits last year because of higher fuel prices, but the majority of this cash flow has gone to dividends, share buybacks and debt repayment -rather than back into traditional supply. Nonetheless, the expected rebound in fossil fuel investment means it is set to rise in 2023 to more than double the levels needed in 2030 in the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. Global coal demand reached an all-time high in 2022, and coal investment this year is on course to reach nearly six times the levels envisaged in 2030 in the Net Zero Scenario. The oil and gas industry’s capital spending on low-emissions alternatives, such as clean electricity, clean fuels and carbon capture technologies, was less than 5 percent of its upstream spending in 2022. That level was little changed from last year – though the share is higher for some of the larger European companies. The biggest shortfalls in clean energy investment are in emerging and developing economies. There are some bright spots, such as dynamic investments in solar in India and in renewables in Brazil and parts of the Middle East. However, investment in many countries is being held back by factors, including higher interest rates, unclear policy frameworks and market designs, weak grid infrastructure, financially strained utilities, and a high cost of capital. Much more needs to be done by the international community, especially to drive investment in lower-income economies, where the private sector has been reluctant to venture.

Source: Philippines News Agency