Vietnam has invested in tapping alternative energy sources anddeveloping nuclear electricity to reduce the nation’s dependence onfossil fuels to ensure energy security and sustainable development, atop official has confirmed.

Deputy Minister ofIndustry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung highlighted the policy at aVietnam-Norway workshop on hydro-power and electricity market reform inHanoi on March 19.

According to Hung, the country is also usingits energy more effectively and has embraced the application oflow-carbon emission technology.

However, he admitted thatchallenges exist relating to the management and operation of hydro-powerplants. Particularly, terraced plants built on rivers are struggling tomeet their targets for power generation, irrigation for agriculturalproduction, flood regulation while ensuring environmental safety.

Inaddition, the ministry also needs to learn from foreign experience indeveloping a competitive national electricity market by 2020, he added.

Monica Maeland, Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, said Norway is able to share its experience in the field.

PerChrister Lund, an electricity industry consultant based in Singapore,said that the electricity market needs more participants and morebalance to be truly effective, because Vietnam already has a competitivepower generation market and links to the retail sale marketplace.

Hesuggested Vietnam connect with other regional countries to address theissue because hydro-electricity is still a major power generationsource.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade,Vietnam’s energy consumption was 57 million tonnes of equivalent oil in2013 and is forecast to increase by seven percent a year during the2010-20 period and five percent for the decade after.

In itselectricity development planning for 2011-2020 with a vision to 2030,Vietnam continues to prioritise the development of hydro-power, bringingtotal hydro-electricity production to 21,300MW in 2020 from the currentlevel of 14,000MW.-VNA