In recent years, Bac Giang has made remarkable progress in all walks of life. In particular, the economy has continuously developed with high growth. The economic structure is changing towards increasing the share of industry and services.
Under the Overall Planning of Economic and Social Development of Bac Giang province to 2020, approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 05/2009/QD-TTg on 13/01/2009, the growth rate during 2006 - 2010 is 10-11%; in 2011-2015-2020 period is 12% (in 2008, GDP increased by 9.1% compared to 2007), the proportion of industry - construction accounts for 35%, services 34,5%, agriculture, forestry and fisheries 30.5%. By 2015, these ratios will be respectively 44.7% - 35.1% - 20.3% and by 2020 it will be 37.1% - 13.7% - 49.2% To achieve these objectives, the efficient use of energy resources in production and living is one of the problems which the leaders in particular and the whole province in general pay special attention to.
However, in most manufacturing facilities in the province, the technologies and energy using equipment are backward while public awareness on energy efficiency and conservation is not adequate, so the use of energy in the province has low performance. Energy intensity is high, while energy costs in production and daily life are huge and the environment pollution is becoming more and more serious.
Up to now, Bac Giang has not had any research and statistics to assess the status of energy supply and consumption throughout the province. It has not classified energy using households - especially key energy using facilities, so the management and guidance of energy efficiency and conservation of the province face many difficulties.
The energy conservation has not had proper attention of manufacturing facilities, services and organizations. Most enterprises in Bac Giang have no effective energy management models, no energy managing officials and no proper care. This is one of the reasons why many enterprises here are struggling to deal with high energy costs.
Aware of this situation, provincial Party Committee and People's Committee province has proactively issued policies and guidelines to implement energy efficiency and conservation in production, services and activities. However, the energy efficiency and conservation of the province has not progressed significantly.
On September 1st, Bac Giang Department of Industry and Trade held a meeting to introduce the provincial Energy Efficiency Center. The meeting had the participants of leader representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Office of Energy Efficiency, representatives of provincial People's Committee and Department of Industry and Trade and many organizations and individuals representing the businesses operating in the province.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Bui Van Hanh, vice chairman of provincial People's Committee, said that the establishment of Bac Giang Energy Efficiency Center was a significant milestone for the province to have an official organization to participate in energy efficiency applied research activities, provide energy efficiency consultancy and services for organizations and individuals in the province of Bac Giang and surrounding areas to increasingly confirm the dominance and continuously enhance the position in the field of energy efficiency. Moreover, being part of the national Energy Efficiency Centers network would help Bac Giang gradually approach and well implement policies and guidelines of the Party and State on energy efficiency and conservation.
Representative of the business, the board chairman of Bac Giang Import Export Company, excitedly shared that to face difficulties in competing in the market, Bac Giang Import Export Company has actively implemented energy saving measures through enhancing the awareness of employees in the company. However, to achieve greater results in energy efficiency, an important factor is technological innovation. The difficulty the company is facing is that they do not have access to subsidized capital and opportunities to approach advanced technologies, so the results are limited. Now with the introduction of provincial Energy Efficiency Center, the company will have more opportunities to reduce production costs and increase competitiveness in the market.
Regarding the State management on energy efficiency and conservation, Mr. Phuong Hoang Kim, Deputy Chief of Energy Efficiency, Deputy Director the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Science and Technology, confirmed that the Office of Energy Efficiency would actively support Bac Giang Energy Efficiency Center in particular and the national Energy Efficiency Centers network in general to soon achieve the national target on energy efficiency and conservation approved by the Prime Minister.
By Minh Duc