Experts are keeping a close eye on Vietnam’s economic potential due to the country’s leadership role in the region's transition to clean energy from fossil fuels, according to a speech given by a state-owned company executive at a seminar earlier this week.

Business France, the trade department under the French Embassy, organized a conference on energy transition applied to the Vietnamese power industry in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday, with cooperation from EVN, EDF, Hogan Lovells, PTSC, and T&T, as well as a delegation of ten French firms.

According to Nicolas Warnery, French Ambassador to Vietnam, the conference is part of an energy transition mission that aims to strengthen ties between French and Vietnamese enterprises in the energy sector, including the production, distribution, and storage of electricity and energy, as well as the development of hydrogen technologies.

During the conference, Nguyen Tai Anh, vice-president of state-run Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), spoke about the accomplishments of Vietnam's energy transition over the past several years, as well as its challenges and economic possibilities.

“From 2010 to 2020, our electricity output increased 3.4 times," Anh said.

"Our system's overall capacity reached 69,300 megawatts in 2020, up from 20,600 megawatts in 2010.

“By the end of 2021, our total capacity had reached roughly 78,000 megawatts, placing us first among Southeast Asian nations and 22nd globally.”

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh underscored a commitment to energy transition by pledging at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), held in Glasgow, Scotland last year to stop building new coal-powered plants and to reduce his country's emissions in order to reach a net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050.

According to Anh, Vietnam is a country with a renewable energy advantage that will develop and implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions using its own resources along with cooperation and support from developed nations, in terms of both financial assistance and technology transfer.

With the strong commitment of the Vietnamese government at COP26, EVN has the foundation and conditions to implement its energy transition in a comprehensive direction, thereby contributing to the transformation of its growth model toward one that is more sustainable, low-emission, secure, and affordable.

From 2019 to 2022, EVN and the French Development Agency (AFD) have a credit agreement for a €250 million (US$250.4 million) non-government guaranteed loan to develop clean energy projects in order to unleash the country’s renewable energy potential.

Anh also discussed the goals of EVN's energy transition, which include developing power grids in synchronization with power generation sources accompanied by the modernization of transmission grids and the application of new technologies in grid operation; enhancing grid interconnection between neighboring countries in the region; building a competent workforce with the knowledge and professional skills to meet requirements for the management and operation of various energy sources; and promoting the use of renewable energy sources.

Anh stressed that similar to other developing nations, Vietnam is expected to encounter obstacles as it strives to meet its promises, hence the need for assistance from international partners, particularly France, is essential.

The French government, through the AFD, has pledged its readiness to assist EVN in planning a strategic plan to reduce net-zero carbon emissions with funding from EU countries.

For French businesses, EVN has also developed and maintained a partnership with the French stated-owned EDF Group since the 2000s.

More recently, the two sides strengthened their cooperation by signing memoranda of understanding in 2017 and 2020.

EVN hopes to continue to strengthen cooperation with EDF and other French enterprises in greenhouse gas emission reduction and climate change response by assisting the Southeast Asian country with high-quality personnel training and by providing funds and technical assistance for the development of a road map for the transition to green and renewable energy.

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