Hanoi (VNA) – Applying new technologies isconsidered an effective way to save energy in industry amidst surging demandand certain problems in power supply, heard a forum in Hanoi on August 21.

According to Deputy Minister of Industry andTrade Hoang Quoc Vuong, in the scenario of an annual GDP growth rate of 7percent, the electricity demand could reach 235 billion kWh in 2020, 352billion kWh in 2025 and 506 billion kWh in 2035. 

Although the power demand growth rate for thetime ahead will slow down to about 8.5 percent in 2021-2025 and 7.5 percent in2026-2030, compared to about 11 percent between 2016 and 2020, the demand willremain very high.

Power generation sources in Vietnam have acombined capacity of some 54,000MW at present, including plants using renewablesources like wind and solar energy. To meet the demand in 2020, the figure willhave to be raised to 60,000MW in 2020 and 130,000MW in 2030. This causes a bigchallenge since many projects are lagging behind schedule, new power plant andtransmission projects facing funding difficulties, a large amount of coal andgas for thermal plants imported, Vuong noted.

Therefore, saving and using energy efficientlywill greatly help ensure power supply, he added.

The amount of energy used in industry accountsfor over 47 percent of the total consumed across the country.

From 2011 to 2015, Vietnam saved 5 – 8 percentof the total energy consumed, comparable to 11 – 17 million tonnes of oilequivalent. Energy consumption in energy-intensive industries also declinedgradually in this period, such as steel production (down 8.09 percent), cement(6.33 percent) and textile (7.32 percent), according to the ministry’s EnergyEfficiency and Sustainable Development Department.

In the national programme on economical andefficient energy use for 2019-2030, Vietnam plans to reduce the energy consumptionby up to 16.5 percent in the steel sector, 10 percent in chemicalmanufacturing, 11 percent in cement production, and 24.81 percent in plasticsproduction compared to the 2015-2018 period.

Assoc. Prof., Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, formerDirector of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, said sustainable and efficientenergy use needs special attention, warning of a surge of old and energywasting technologies in Vietnam in the time ahead as many investors shift theirprojects to the country to avoid impact of the US-China trade tension.

Other participants said apart from promoting theenergy saving habit, new technological solutions should be applied to improveenergy use efficiency.

Chairman of the Vietnam Automation AssociationNguyen Quan, who is also former Minister of Science and Technology, said about30 percent of the electricity output is currently used for lighting. If half ofthe amount of electricity consumed in this field at present is saved by usingLED lights, it is equivalent to the energy generated by a 4,000MW nuclear powerplant. New technologies will also help save about 10 percent of the electricityused by the 10 million air conditioners nationwide.

Do Huu Hao, Chairman of the Vietnam EnergyConservation and Energy Efficiency Association, also highlighted the need torenovate technology and improve productivity to save energy, calling forconcrete activities to assist businesses to apply energy efficiency solutions./.