A discussion at the “Designing an Energy-Efficient HCM City”  seminar on Thursday in HCM City. — Photo Courtesy from seminar organisers

HCM CITY — Investment and development of distributed rooftop, utility-scale solar projects and integrated energy solutions are among the methods driving HCM City’s energy efficiency and clean energy transition, a seminar titled “Designing an Energy-Efficient HCM City” heard on Thursday.

Participants, mostly industry experts, business leaders and Government officials, agreed that these solutions would optimise green energy yields and manage power consumption.

Phan Quang Vinh, deputy manager of sales at Vietnam Electricity - HCM City (EVNHCMC), underlined the importance of rooftop power, saying its development had become stagnant after strong growth in 2019-20, but had resumed and there was great focus now.

According to Vinh HCM City allows installation of rooftop power projects on public buildings, and their total capacity is now estimated at 166MWp on 2,600 roofs.

Besides, HCM City has many other solutions to achieve energy efficiency, including acceleration of infrastructure development for electric vehicles.

It has 100 charging stations in addition to three electric-only bus routes and 600 electric taxis.

Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngọc, deputy director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, provided an overview of the country’s Power Development Master Plan 8 (PDP 8). 

She emphasised the pivotal role of private-public partnerships in achieving the ambitious targets set forth in it.

The city is also co-operating with private investors, universities and domestic and foreign organisations to study and adopt energy-efficient technologies, according to Ngọc.

Besides, at the event, participating companies showcased advanced technologies and lessons learnt from many countries in energy efficiency.

The latter include empowering green and smart energy buildings with solutions that leverage AI and IoT to create a low-carbon, smart-energy future. 

Another solution is “district cooling,” a scalable and sustainable cooling solution that helps entire districts and buildings save cooling-related energy consumption, enhance cooling reliability and reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Brandon Chia, managing director, sustainable energy solutions, Southeast Asia & Australia, SP Group, said: “SP Group looks forward to working closely with EVNHCMC and local partners to empower a sustainable future for HCM City and Việt Nam. 

“Leveraging our regional expertise and suite of smart and sustainable energy solutions, our objective is to co-create an efficient, reliable and clean energy eco-system that will help cities, districts and buildings transition to a low-carbon future.

This will support Việt Nam in achieving its bold energy goals outlined in the PDP8 and fulfil the country’s net-zero ambitions,” he said.

PDP 8, finalised in May this year, is a forward-looking power development plan for until 2030 whose primary objectives are to ensure energy security, diversify energy sources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and foster socio-economic development.

Realising its vision requires an investment of US$134.7 billion for building new power plants and modernising grids with a clear focus on boosting wind, solar and gas-fired thermal energy while gradually phasing out the country’s reliance on coal.  

The conference was organised by EVNHCMC and Singapore’s SP Group. — VNS