First Solar has contacted Ho Chi Minh City Hi-tech Park, Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park and Phong Phu Industrial Zone to build a factory on an area of 72 hectares. First Solar’s products include the first photovoltaic thin panel battery. However, due to requirement of large area, the High-tech Park will no longer be suitable, therefore, First Solar must find venue in two other locations.

According to the Master plan for Vietnam building material development to 2020, demands for building materials in 2010, 2015, 2020 are correspondingly 25, 32, 42 billion brick equivalent units, in which, the proportions of non-baked material are 10%, 15 – 20% and 30 – 40%, respectively.

Held by The World & Vietnam Magazine (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) in cooperation with the Asia Business Forum (ABF), and European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Eurocham), the conference is the largest ever on the issue. It is forecast that Vietnam's economy continues to grow rapidly while the population will reach 100 million by 2020. To meet the demand for electricity, Vietnam's power sector must maintain a growth rate of more than 12% annually.

As an agriculture-based country, Vietnam has great potential to develop biogas in the animal husbandry sector. Statistics show that every year, cattle and poultry herds in Vietnam discharge about 73 million tonnes of droppings. Each tonne of muck can cause 0.24 tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, which means 73 million tonnes of animal droppings will cause 17.52 million tonnes of CO2, seriously polluting the environment.

The Vietnam project ‘Building four-chamber conveyor-type ceramic brick furnaces using rice husk gasification technology’ will be honored the 2009 Energy Globe Award in a ceremony to be held on June 3, 2010 in Rwanda.

The chairman of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology and Environment Committee Prof. and Dr. of Sc. Dang Vu Minh, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Dr. Do Huu Hao, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Le Dinh Tien and the head of the Vietnam Nuclear Energy Institute Dr. Vuong Huu Tan all attended the exhibition.

The draft version of the Law on Energy Efficiency and Conservation has dedicated a chapter to describe the responsibility of industrial production facilities in economical and efficient use of energy. This indicates the essential role of the industrial sector in Vietnam efforts to achieve the national target on energy efficiency and conservation.

Phần mềm giúp tiết kiệm năng lượng của Phạm Ngọc Thắng đã giành giải nhất trong cuộc thi “Ý tưởng xanh” do Tổng cục Môi trường, Bộ GD&ĐT phối hợp với Công ty Toyota Vietnam tổ chức vào cuối tháng 4 vừa qua tại Hà Nội. Với số tiền được tài trợ là 250 triệu đồng để đưa dự án vào thực tế, Thắng hi vọng sau 6 tháng triển khai sẽ có khoảng 4.000 máy tính trên phạm vi cả nước cài đặt phần mềm.

A meeting was held in Hanoi Monday for Vietnamese enterprises and firms from Maryland State, US, to seek trade partnership. The meeting, hosted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, offered an opportunity for local firms to learn about the US technologies and latest applications in the environmental area.

Huynh Kim Tuoc, the director of the Ho Chi Minh City Energy Conservation Center, said, "Industries in Vietnam still consume exorbitant amounts of energy due to inefficiency." Statistics show that the energy efficiency at thermoelectric plants in Vietnam is about 28-32 percent while in developed countries this number is about 40 percent.

The Institute for Building, Science and Technology (IBST) on May 12th held a scientific seminar on “The experiences in implementing energy saving and efficiency program of the EU and Bulgaria and the application of energy efficiency meter software in Vietnam.” Participants of the workshop included Mr. Vladimir Moskov, commissioner of Bulgarian Embassy in Vietnam, Prof. Dr Nikola Geargiev Kaloyanov, Vice-Chancellor of Technical University of Sofia, project director and some other experts. On Vietnam side are Assoc. Prof. Dr Cao Duy Tien, director of IBST, Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Xuan Chinh, deputy director of IBST concurrently project director, other experts from research institutes and universities and other interested researchers.

A retailer shopping centers and supermarkets, Big C welcomes thousands of shoppers every day. Its power expenditure accounts for a proportion as large as 30% of the total outsource service costs. Thus, energy saving activities will bring about practical benefits, helping the retailer meet dual targets: reducing costs to fulfill its mission statement “low prices for every one” to boost its market share, and achieving the national target in energy savings and efficiency together with the whole society.

With the success of those two projects, we have designed and manufactured the modular exhaust-heat-utilizing boiler with design pressure of 10kG/m2, working pressure of 6kG/m2, heat transfer surface area of the boiler 13,2 m2, the area of water heater 6,33 m2. All the designs have been registered at Vietnam Register.

According to Ass. Prof, Dr. Sc., Nguyen Tac An, former Director of the Institute of Oceanography, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Vietnam has great potential to develop wave energy.

Featuring tropical monsoon climate, a high density of rivers and streams that are proportionally dispersed and comparatively sloping terrains Vietnam has great potential for the development of small and medium-range hydropower plants. Effective exploitation of this latent potential will not only create people extra income and meet the demand for energy in particular areas but also relieve the state energy deficiency.

In response to the government’s policy and the national program for energy efficiency, the An Giang Province Department of Industry and Trade together with the Philips Vietnam Company sent a team to rural areas in the province to launch the “The Path for the Goal of Power Saving” program for impoverished residents in the area.

Each year businesses added 2,000MW-3,000MW to the national power grid in the recent years, bringing Vietnam’s total power production to more than 18,400MW currently. In 2009, the country succeeded in dealing with power outages

Sáng nay, 18 tháng 9 năm 2009, tại Hà Nội đã diễn ra buổi tọa đàm giao lưu ”Nhà báo, doanh nghiệp và hoạt động tiết kiệm năng lượng”. Buổi tọa đàm do Trung tâm Tiết kiệm Năng lượng Tp.HCM, Ban quản lý Dự án Nâng cao Hiệu quả Sử dụng Năng lượng trong các doanh nghiệp nhỏ và vừa - PECSME, Công ty Điện lực Tp.HCM phối hợp tổ chức. Đây được coi là hoạt động bên lề Hội chợ công nghệ và thiết bị Việt Nam ASEAN + 3 (Techmart Vietnam ASEAN + 3) được tổ chức tại Hà Nội từ ngày 17 đến 20/09/2009.

Phóng viên Vietnam Economic News đã có cuộc trao đổi với ông Nguyễn Đình Hiệp - Chánh VP TKNL về những kết quả hoạt động của chương trình trong năm 2008 và định hướng hoạt động năm 2009. Sau đây là nội dung cuộc trao đổi.