Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – The energy sector has grown into a large-scaleindustry with dynamic growth, but specific mechanisms are needed for the sectorto develop further, heard the Vietnam Energy Summit2020 which opened in Hanoi on July 22.
Addressing the event, Politburo member and head of the Party CentralCommittee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh said the energy sector ingeneral and the electricity industry in particular has undergone rapid anduniform development in recent years, and basically completed set targets.
In 2019, the sector produced and imported 240.1 billion kWh ofelectricity and the design capacity of the national power system was about50,000 MW. Crude oil output stood at 13.1 million tonnes, gas 10.2 billion cu.mand coal 44.9 million tonnes.
However, the sector has also revealed many shortcomings and weaknesses.The national energy security goal is facing many challenges, with domesticsupply unable to meet demand, leading to increasing imports. Many powerprojects have been behind schedule, and several indices of energy security arechanging in the negative direction.
The management and exploitation of energy resources showed limitations,plus a low efficiency in energy use and asynchronous development of thecompetitive energy market. The policy on energy pricing has not matched themarket mechanism.
Sharing this view, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung affirmed thatVietnam always pays special attention to energy development so as to ensurenational energy security, promote production development in the period ofindustrialisation and modernization.
ಞ Totackle the problems faced by the energy sector, the Government and the PrimeMinister are focusing their direction on several key tasks, the Deputy PM said.
The first of which is to complete mechanismsfor the sector’s development, with relevant ministries and branches required tomake amendments and supplements to the laws on electricity, oil and gas, andthe economical and efficient use of energy, as well as to draft a new law onrenewable energy. Ministries and branches are also tasked with revising andbuilding sub-law legal norms and documents for the effective enforcement of thenew laws.
The second task is to build development strategies for the energy sectorand the electricity and coal industries in 2021-2030 with a vision to 2045,along with researching and building strategies for long-term energy imports andenvironmental protection.
Deputy PM Dung added that the Government will assign relevant agenciesto build national master plans on the development of energy, electricity, andinfrastructure for the stockpile and supply of oil and gas. In particular, thenational electricity development master plan must be approved within 2020, Dungsaid.
Regarding the transformation of the energy sector to market mechanism,Deputy PM Dung said the power sector has operated in the form of a competitivewholesale market since early 2019 and the adjustment of electricity retailprice has been made in accordance with the market mechanism under the controlof the State.
The PM has instructed the building of a project on developing acompetitive power market to 2030 with a vision to 2045, with the goal ofpiloting the competitive power retail market in 2022 and launching the officialcomplete market in 2023, according to Dung. He added that a fully competitivecoal market will be launched in the period from 2026-2030.
Regarding the development of renewable energy, Minister of Industry andTrade Tran Tuan Anh pointed to the fact that with the engagement of othereconomic sectors, especially the private sector, Vietnam can achieve settargets in a much shorter time than expectations.
💛 The Vietnam Energy Summit 2020 was held to seek ways to implement the Politburo’s Resolution No.55-NQ/TW on orientations to national energydevelopment till 2030 with a vision to 2045, which was issued on February 11, 2020. The resolution is said to containnew and breakthroughs contents on national energy development such as diversifyingenergy sources, prioritizing renewable energy and gas-fueled power andfacilitating the private sector’s engagement in energy development./.
