How much offshore wind power

A wind farm of Trung Nam Group in Ninh Thuận Province in the central region of Việt Nam. The country aims to have 44 per cent of its power from renewable energy. — Photo courtesy of Trung Nam Group

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam needs about $128.3 billion of investment capital to develop its electricity industry in 2021-2030, according to draft electricity planning released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

On February 9, the MoIT issued a draft national electricity development planning project for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2045 or the power master plan VIII and asked other ministries and agencies to contribute their ideas.

With forecasts that Viet Nam’s GDP growth will reach an average of 6.6 per cent per year in 2031-2045 and 5.7 per cent per year in 2031-2045, the MoIT forecast the supply of commercial electricity to reach 491 billion kWh by 2030, and 877 billion kWh by 2045.

The draft expected by 2030, the total installed capacity of electricity sources in the country would reach 137.2 GW including 27 per cent from coal-fired thermal power, 21 per cent from gas thermal power, 18 per cent from hydroelectricity, 29 per cent from wind power, solar and renewable energy and 4 per cent from the imported sources and 1 per cent from other types of energy from storage devices.

The MoIT’s draft said by 2045, the total installed capacity will reach nearly 276.7 GW including 18 per cent from coal-fired thermal power, 24 per cent from gas thermal power, 9 per cent from hydroelectricity, 44 per cent from wind power, solar and renewable energy and 2 per cent from the imported sources and 3 per cent from other types of energy from storage devices.

The power master plan VIII encourages the development of renewable energy and discourages hydroelectricity. Renewables made up 13 per cent of power in 2020 and are aimed to make up 30 per cent by 2030 and 44 per cent by 2045.

Regarding the power grid development programme, the plan proposes to continue building the 500kV power transmission system to transmit electricity from major power source centres in the Central Highlands, south-central, north-central and central regions to the large load centres in HCM City and the Red River Delta. It also asked to strengthen the interconnected transmission grid to support the transmission of power capacity.

In the draft, they also research the application of smart grid and the 4.0 technology in power transmission to calculate and propose in the master plan.

The MoIT calculated total investment capital for electricity development in 2021-2030 of about $128.3 billion including $95.4 billion for electricity and $32.9 billion for the grid.

For the next 15 years, the ministry calculated the need at about $192.3 billion including $140.2 billion for electricity and $52.1 billion for the grid.

Combining the two periods, Việt Nam needs $320.6 billion to develop its national power system. — VNS

The goal is part of the industrial environmental protection plan for the next five years which was recently approved by Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung.

The plan is designed to control sources of waste, minimise environmental incidents, recognise environmental issues in the coming period, and promote sustainable production and consumption.

Under the plan, 80% of ash, slag and gypsum from power stations, chemical and fertiliser plants will be recycled and processed into manufacturing and construction materials.

Measures will be taken to promote the use of environmentally friendly bags at supermarkets and shopping centres with the ultimate goal of replacing non-biodegradable plastic bags.

Under the plan, risks will be identified towards introducing environmental protection policies for energy projects such as waste to energy, wind power and solar power, as well as for some other sectors.

Over the next five years, all enterprises in industry and trade will be educated on the laws and regulations on environmental protection.

The largest project, worth VND500 billion, aims to map the seafloor terrain for the entirety of Vietnam’s waters to serve the sustainable maritime economic development strategy until 2020 with a vision to 2045.

It will be undertaken by the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands in partnership with the authorities concerned, with the final products being maps at the scales of 1:10,000, 1:50,000, 1:250,000 and 1:500,000, which will be stored electronically and printed on paper.

Other projects include the surveying of the resources and environment of the southwestern waters; and of the natural conditions, resources and environmental state of the central region’s waters to a depth of 1,000 metres.

The geological structure and geodynamic characteristics of the deep-water area in the East Sea/South China Sea will also be surveyed in order to assess its oil potential and orientate deep-water exploration in conjunction with asserting national sovereignty.

MONRE is also looking to assess the potentials of wave energy and wind power from Quang Tri to Ca Mau; draw a map of marine environmental pollution risks; and simulate the saltwater intrusion process in underground water layers along with its impacts on water security, food security and the ecology of coastal areas.

A man who tested positive for COVID-19 using the real-time PCR method in the Mekong Delta on Sunday had his retest return negative at the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City the same day.

The retest was conducted on a sample taken from T.V.T., 49, and sent by the Center for Disease Control in Bac Lieu Province, the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City said on Sunday evening.

The institute is among the medical facilities tasked with confirming COVID-19 tests during the pandemic in Vietnam.

T., who hails from Soc Trang Province, also located in the Mekong Delta, had been considered a suspected case following his first positive test because the Ministry of Health still had not registered it by then, according to a report by the Bac Lieu Center for Disease Control.

He claimed to have never left his hometown nor had any contact with coronavirus patients or suspected cases in the preceding 14 days.

On Saturday, T. and six other people traveled on motorbikes to a wind power company in Bac Lieu City, which is the provincial capital, to seek jobs.

The group later went to Bao Anh Diner and have a cup of coffee before contacting a man named Huu from the company.

Huu rented a room next to Bao Anh for the group to take a rest.

At 11:00 am the same day, T. and the other group members had lunch at Ut Suong Rice Point near their room.

Around 2:30 pm, Huu took T.’s group by motorbike to Thanh Vu Medic Bac Lieu Hospital for a COVID-19 test.

The hospital announced on Sunday that T. had tested positive for the virus, using the real-time PCR method.

He was then isolated at Bac Lieu General Hospital.

All of his direct contacts already tested negative for the virus, the Bac Lieu Center for Disease Control said on Sunday night.

Vietnam’s caseload tally has hit 2,448 as of Monday morning, with 849 domestic cases reported since January 27, when the country confirmed the first community-based infection after having spent almost two months detecting zero local transmissions, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

Hai Duong Province in the northern region is the largest epicenter with 665 cases.

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