In this article, Mr. Trịnh Quốc Vũ, Deputy Director of the Department of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development (Ministry of Industry and Trade - MOIT), shared his opinion about the issue. 

Could you share the implementation results of Directive No. 20 until now?

Mr. Trịnh Quốc Vũ: 

Since the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Directive No.20 on enhancing electricity saving in the period 2020-2025 (hereby referred as Directive No.20), MOIT has built the implementation framework and has sent documents of action guidance to 63 provinces and central cities. 

Besides, through resources of the National Energy Efficiency Program and ODA projects, we have directly supported 15 provinces and central cities to build and implement activities according to the Directive No.20. Until now, 54/63 provinces and central cities have developed and issued their action plans of implementing Directive No.20.

Mr. Trịnh Quốc Vũ, Deputy Director of the Department of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade

Furthermore, MOIT has established working groups to inspect and supervise the implementation of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy, integrating the contents of Directive No.20. Until now, 37 units, focusing on the Industry and Trade Department in localities, have been inspected. The work includes reviewing and instructing local authorities to build and implement action plans on EE and inspect key energy-use facilities and industrial firms in implementing EE activities according to Directive No.20 and so on. 

Through these, the implementation of Directive No.20 in localities is doing well. However, there are still many things that should be improved to meet the goals, which are saving 2% of industrial facilities’ annual energy consumption and saving 5% of governmental bodies’ annual energy use. They, hence, need specific technical and financial solutions to improve their energy use.

In the coming time, MOIT will continue to inspect works relating to Directive No.20. At the same time, we propose the Prime Minister and Central Government to develop financial incentive schemes to accelerate enterprises’ accessibilities to funding for EE investment and EE solutions. This aims to contribute to the successful implementation of the National Energy Efficiency Program (VNEEP) and to meet the goals of Directive No.20.

Which difficulties have enterprises faced while implementing Directive No.20? What recommendations does MOIT give to solve those issues?

Mr. Trịnh Quốc Vũ:

Several prominent issues should be mentioned, such as poor outcomes of EE activities caused by the limited awareness of people and enterprises and the tiny proportion of energy in total production costs due to the low cost of electricity. 

Besides, mechanisms for EE promotion are deficient; hence neither people nor businesses have strong incentives to take action. Low energy performance and high fuel consumption rates due to obsolete technologies and insubstantial levels of energy management in various manufacturers and sectors also contribute to the situation.

Among those difficulties, the prominent issue relates to finance. Most enterprises and energy-use firms lack the capital to invest in high-energy performance equipment and machines to meet the goals of Directive No.20. 

Currently, the Government assigned MOIT to review the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy and then propose amendments to leveraging outcomes of EE implementation. One of the key recommendations will be the development of financial support mechanisms for energy-use units and enterprises to assess preferential EE funding. Hence, they will have sufficient resources to invest in EE activities and replace low-energy performance machines and lines with higher energy-efficient systems. 

Furthermore, we are studying then recommend the Government amend and add several EE models to help create an EE market to exploit every possible resource, including funds from Government, private sector and international support, to contribute to our energy efficiency and greenhouse gas goals reduction. 

Minh Khuê edited. Giang Nguyễn translated.