At the launching ceremony (Source: ) Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition (VIET)was officially launched in Hanoi on September 19.
Established in late 2018, the VIET works as an independent organisationstudying activities related to the transition of the national energy system.
Its main activity is hosting exchanges between scientists and policymakers inenergy economy and climate protection to find appropriate policies for nationalenergy development.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Chairman of the VIET Ha Duong Minh said theVietnamese Government is calling for diversification of investment in theenergy sector.
There are many technical issues in the policy decision-making process.Therefore, the VIET will connect scientists and policymakers to put forthappropriate decisions to aid the transition of the energy system, he added.
This transition will contribute to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, helpingVietnam realise its commitments at the 21st session of the Conference of theParties (COP21) in Paris in 2015 as well as international commitments onsustainable development Vietnam has joined, he said.
A workshop on the future of the power sector transition was held after thelaunch ceremony.
Participants discussed scenarios of developing a power systemfrom using renewable energy such as hydropower, solar power and wind power.
They suggested the Vietnamese electricity sector have solutions for energystorage and policies to support public and private investment as well as ensureretail electricity prices for separate groups of customers.
The panels also proposed building a policy framework on electricity price,improving policies to encourage renewable energy development, and refining alegal framework to develop a competitive electricity market.
Vietnam is movingalong with the global trend in energy transition as renewable energy isacknowledged to be the most important and effective solution to climatechange. The adjusted 7th national electricity plan aims to raise thepercentage of renewable energy in national electricity generation to 7 percentin 2020, and 10 percent by 2030.
During the past twoyears, the government has issued support mechanisms and incentives for thedevelopment of renewable energy, such as preferential prices for solar and windpower.
As a result, Vietnamhas made significant strides in developing renewable energy in recent years,particularly solar power, turning the country into one of the most dynamic andattractive renewable energy markets in Southeast Asia.
As of July this year,solar and wind energy has accounted for more than 9 percent of the nationalelectricity generation, surpassing the target for 2020. The total capacity ofsolar power plants in the country has hit 4,543.8 MW and that of wind powerplants 626.8 MW.
However, this rapiddevelopment is also posing new challenges for the development of the nationalgrid system, land usage, electricity pricing mechanism, human resources, employmentand financial resources./.
VNA
