After the success of the Conferences in the Mid-land and the South, in the afternoon of November 18, 2015, the Conference on 5-year implementation of National Target Program for Energy Efficiency and Conservation (phase 2011-2015) in the North was held in Hanoi.

Representatives of General Directorate of Energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam Electricity Corporation and other representatives of Departments of Industry and Trade, Trade promotion centers and Energy conservation centers in the North attended the Conference.

150 representatives in the North attended the Conference

Delivering the Speech on Conference Opening, Mr. Do Huu Hao – Chairman of Vietnam Association for Technology in Energy Saving and Efficiency stated that in addition to positive results, it was essential to recognize fully barriers and limits impacting the implementation of the program and draw lessons so as to adjust the contents of the program and stimulate activities of economical and efficient use of energy widely and deeply in the phase of 2016 – 2020.

Mr. Do Huu Hao – Chairmain of Vietnam Association for Technology in Energy Saving and Efficiency 

Reporting the results of the implementation of National target program for Energy Efficiency and Conservation, Mr. Trinh Quoc Vu – General Director of Science, Technology and Energy Efficiency Department, General Directorate of Energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that over 85% Vietnamese people gain knowledge of energy saving thanks to emulation movements and promotion of energy-saving household and school models. 100% of communication types, broadcasting and television stations propagandize energy saving. With the task of promoting high-efficiency equipment market – energy labeling program, 29 sets of MEPS standards and testing methods applied to energy labeled products was issued in accordance with the roadmap of energy labeling. Over 10,000 product codes of 14 groups were labeled. According to preliminary calculations, nearly 6% of national energy consumption has been achieved in the phase of 2011 – 2015. 

 Over 10,000 product codes of 14 groups were labeled

For industrial sectors, Circular No.02/2014/TT-BCT dated January 16, 2014 on regulations on methods of economical and efficient use of energy for industrial sectors, methods of management and solutions to economical and efficient use of energy in chemical sector was issued. To the present, 77 factories applied the plan of energy management and finished projects on operation improvement, in which 15 businesses applied energy management systems and were issued certificates of Energy management system – ISO 50001. 1,140 businesses implemented energy audit in 2015 and reached energy-saving degree of 14.6%.

Construction regulation on energy saving for buildings was issued in September, 2013 (QCVN 09:2013/BXD) towards economical use of energy in buildings. Simultaneously, applications of economical and efficient use of energy for public means of transportation (buses) in big cities were built; standards and process of energy labeling for cars with fewer than 7 seats were issued.

Besides positive results, Mr. Trinh Quoc Vu confirmed that several drawbacks still exist. For instance, the mechanism for supporting businesses in investment in replacing outdated production lines with high efficiency production lines has been limited; a lot of businesses have not been enthusiastic to implement requirements of regulations of the Law and other promulgated rules; resources for conducting and monitoring the implementation of the Law on Energy Saving and other legal documents have been restrained.

Evaluating the impacts of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hiep stated that the Law was issued in the time appropriate to the conditions of Vietnam and the general trend of the world. Concurrently, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hiep indirectly confirmed that the impacts of the Law in the macro scope are the guarantee for energy security, environmental protection; and they affect directly the advancement in the effectiveness in economic growth in general and the effectiveness of energy use in particular, promote the international cooperation and integration in the region and in the world.

Also at the conference, Mr. Dao Hong Thai – Director of Hanoi Energy Conservation Center reported the activities of economical and efficient use of energy of Hanoi City in the phase of 2011-2015. These activities include the task of direction, operation and guide on supervision of the performance of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy; propaganda about high-efficiency equipment through energy labeling program; training of human resources for enterprises; organization of movements such as households with economical and efficient use of energy; energy audit, … These activities after being implemented help Hanoi city save 6.93% of energy consumption compared to the forecast.

Speaking at the Conference, Mr. Tran Viet Nguyen – Deputy Head, Department of Business, Vietnam Electricity Corporation presented power-saving activities of Vietnam Electricity Corporation which were implemented such as program of propagandizing, advertising safe, economical and efficient use of power, program of replacement of incandescent lamps by compact lamps, Earth hour program, program of advertising solar-powered water heaters. In addition to difficulties and challenges during the implementation of power-saving programs, Vietnam Electricity Corporation also stated the directions of action in the phase of 2016 - 2020 and proposals, petitions to the Governments, Ministries and People’s Committees of the cities in the country for support in the implementation of power-saving programs. 

Ngoc Anh