More than 14 energy conservation and 40 industrial promotion centers have been established in the whole country in order to promote saving and using energy efficiently by direct consulting for business. However, until now, half of them have only played propagandizing roles.

At the recent 7^th nationwide conference on energy efficiency in Tien Giang, Mr. Trinh Quoc Vu, General Director of Science Technology and Energy Efficiency Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade said that those centers are responsible for advising People’s Committees about energy saving plans in local areas, auditing energy use to find out where and how much energy is wasted in the production process. As a result, enterprises will be able to think of solutions, choose suitable technology, use energy effectively to get the highest profit.

Mr Trinh Quoc Vu, General Director of Science, Technology and Energy Efficiency Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade at the Conference. (Photo: tietkiemnangluong.com.vn)

Nevertheless, only half of the energy efficiency centers and industrial promotion centers have executed their key function and helped businesses to change and use energy more safely and efficiently.

The reason for this situation is the lack of professional capability, superficial knowledge about technology, equipment and inequality among many centers.

Half the centers have only accomplished the basic function of energy saving policy which is propagandizing through leaflets, introducing policy’s benefits to the community and businesses.

At the conference, according to many delegates, one of the difficulties of implementing energy efficiency is finding investment capital’s sources. As Mr. Huynh Kim Tuoc, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Energy Conservation Center stated, Vietnamese banks haven’t built any system of criteria to assess the feasibility of implementing energy saving in business.

Mr Huynh Kim Tuoc, Manager of Ho Chi Minh City Energy Conservation Center (Photo: tietkiemgnangluong.com.vn)

However, there has been good news about capital’s sources for all enterprises who want to change to save energy. According to Denmark’s Ambassador to Vietnam, from the early 2015, Denmark Government will act as a guarantor for 50% of projects on energy saving in small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam. The amount of guarantee for each business is USD10 to USD100 thousand. 

As for Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mr. Vu said that by 2016, they will get a fund of USD 200 million borrowed from World Bank to support enterprises in changing to save energy. 

By Ngoc Thuy