Sweden's Ambassador Ann Måwe points out opportunities for collaboration between Sweden and Việt Nam in energy industry. — Photo courtesy of the embassy

 HÀ NỘI — As Việt Nam face challenges in a shortage of energy, Swedish enterprises see great potential in developing renewable and smart grids in the country.

Hoàng Quốc Vượng, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, told an energy workshop between his ministry and the Sweden Embassy that with rapid growth, “Việt Nam’s demand for energy and electricity is greater but we are facing a lack of energy.”

Vượng said many projects had lagged behind schedule while the country faced a risk of power shortage, mentioning the country needed support from other developers around the world.

To solve the problem, Vượng said: “The Government focuses on renewable sources due to their competitive prices and environmentally-friendly nature,” adding that the country was calling for more participants from the private sector.

At the workshop, Sweden's Ambassador Ann Måwe said: "Việt Nam has great potential due to its size and continuously increasing energy demand," adding: "The demand has created opportunities for collaboration between Sweden and Việt Nam, at both country and corporate level."

She continued: “Việt Nam has achieved remarkable outcomes in developing clean and renewable energy. In 2019, it witnessed large investments in renewable energies, especially solar and wind energy, with more than 4.5GW of solar power connected to the national grid, and in the future, there will be more renewable energy projects to be commissioned.”

As Sweden is ranked top in terms of energy transition in three consecutive years since 2018, the ambassador thought Việt Nam, which has only three waste-to-energy factories, can learn from their experience.

Nguyễn Thế Thắng from the Institute of Energy said as the power system and planning related to most of the industries in Việt Nam, they need special attention.

Normally Việt Nam exploited power from water and thermal sources in the north and south, now it also found great potential to develop wind and solar power in the central region of the country.

Hexico AB, which is developing the world’s largest wind farm in South Korea, said Việt Nam has a long coast with many suitable places for near shore and offshore wind parks.

The firm, which is also doing business in Việt Nam, said there were similar projects in Việt Nam and it was interested in sharing their experiences in other markets to local partners.

Considering smart grids based on IoT and 5G connectivity is a must in the local power system in the future, Ericsson Energy Firm said: "Technology such as real-time load balancing, fault location isolation, supply restoration and cybersecurity are now applied more in the grids."

A representative of Ericsson Energy told Việt Nam News: "Due to the growing production in Việt Nam, the country will for sure go digital and use the latest 5G for its robotic and IoT services. At that time, the smart grids will work very well to serve all partners."

He said: "There is almost no barrier in technology for the smart grids in Việt Nam," adding if all the industries and related areas in the country work together in a combined power ecosystem, Việt Nam would enjoy smart grids with great connectivity to boost productivity. — VNS