So, cutting off electricity by zone on a temporary basis to save power is unavoidable. Moreover, from March 1, 2010, the price of electricity has increased by VND948.5 (8.92 percent) per kWh compared with the price of 2009. So each family has to pay a higher electricity bill. For those reasons, it is an urgent need to save power.

The Mekong Plastic Joint Stock Company (Trung An Industrial Zone, My Tho city, Tien Giang province) specializes in producing diverse ranges of packaging serving domestic and export markets with an annual revenue of around VND100 billion. Surveys show that the company can save VND245 million each year if it applies energy efficient measures.

Through energy audit and the application of some solutions and models of the project “Investigate, assess, propose solutions and develop energy-saving models for a number of schools, hospitals, factories and flower farms of Lam Dong” implemented by Energy Conservation Center of Ho Chi Minh city, more than VND500 million has been saved and a large amount of CO2 emission which causes greenhouse effect has been reduced.

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.

The demand for electricity of Ba Ria – Vung Tau (BR - VT) averages more than 7 million kWh, but the allocated output is only 6 million kWh. Thus, the power cut frequency in the province since the beginning of April has been “every two days”, 1.5 times higher than the same period in 2009, which has dramatically affected all aspects of life.

Leaders of the two companies were very pleased as experts of the Energy Efficiency Center of Hanoi and Ninh Binh Department of Industry and Trade’s Energy Management Office have helped them discover the energy saving potential. Thereby, the two companies will gradually apply the proposed solutions to redress the wasted energy.

To learn energy situation at the whole group and find opportunities to save energy cost, Vinacomin conducted energy audits at its 32 affiliates, including 12 coal-pit and 5 open-cast extraction businesses, 2 sieving units, 6 mechanical engineering units and 2 transport enterprises. The survey results showed that coal-pit extraction facilities could save between six to 14.7 percent of total power consumption, averaging 10.7 percent. If energy efficient measures were taken, these coal-pit extraction units could save nearly 30 million KWh (equal to 3,000 tonnes of oil equivalent) or more than VND25 billion each year.

In April 2010, Hai Phong is distributed only 7.75 million kWh per day, while it will consume between 9-10 million kWh per day to meet all its demands. Unlike many provinces and cities which often have power cut in the hot dry season, Hai Phong is still light. Most people in the city don’t have to face power outage. This was because Hai Phong Electricity has creatively issued "quotas" for electricity.

The heat of more than 38oC results in a sudden rise in electricity demand, and overloaded system. HCMC Power Company has been forced to implement an emergency power saving plan, part of which is to offer VND200,000 as reward for any households saving electricity by 6% in May and June.

The Second International Exhibition of Energy Efficiency and Environment Hanoi (ENTECH Hanoi 2010), a large exhibition of this kind for the north will be held from May 27-30 at the Giang Vo Exhibition Center in Hanoi.

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.

Another popular and effective method to save energy in Ho Chi Minh City is using solar energy instead of electricity. Ho Chi Minh City authorities are providing every household with VND1 million to adopt solar energy.

The Hi-tech Park in District 9, Ho Chi Minh city has examined, accepted and put into use 28 wind-and-solar lamp posts installed by Kim Dinh JSC International Group and The Public Lighting Company of Ho Chi Minh city.

According to Tien Giang Department of Industry and Trade, the operation of the two lamp posts which use wind and solar energy in Rach Mieu bridge and Hung Vuong bridge has been very good for the past four months. These lamps are working well and the energy they use is totally from natural and renewable sources.

A straw gas stove has the capacity of 15 tonnes of product and consumes 42kg of straw per batch within five hour of continuous drying. The cost of this stove is at around VND7 million, which is much cheaper than the cost of a diesel stove with the similar capacity.

With those practical figures and the supporting funds from the National Program, Ninh Binh Women’s Union has facilitated the construction of 530 biogas pits under the project.

Mr. Luu Tien Long also presented five public sector energy conservation projects: installing a public lighting system on Hanoi’s streets; building a rural lighting system in Hanoi’s Soc Son, Dong Anh and Tu Liem districts; replacing the lighting system at State offices; building a biogas power generation plant that uses waste from slaughter-houses, and building a biogas power generation plant using waste that is derived from fuels in Ba Vi district. Investment in these five projects is estimated to total nearly VND500 billion

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

Thanks to waste heat recovery techniques, the efficiency of thermal energy at industrial production lines can now exceed 90 percent. The utilization of heat during the burning process also helps reduce the amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide), SO2 (sulfur dioxide) and other kinds of toxic gas that are produced by industrial production facilities by 50-80 percent. Waste heat recovery solutions are not only energy efficient and minimize the emissions of dangerous exhaust, but it also brings companies considerable economic benefits.

More than 1,000 members from the women’s associations in 10 inner districts in Hanoi partook in a ceremony at Quan Ngua Stadium on March 30 to celebrate the movement, ‘Promoting energy efficiency and conservation among Hanoi families in 2010’. The Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh, leaders from the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade and Hanoi People’s Committee, and representatives from the Hanoi Women’s Union attended the ceremony.

lthough the energy conservation program has been widely performed with more than 100 projects and missions assigned to many sectors, businesses and households, its result in 2006 was just 135 KTOE (equal to 1,6 billion kilowatt-hours or 1 million oil barrels), 0,56% of total consumption. In 2007, this number was 347 KTOE, equal to 4 billion kilowatt-hours. In the early 2009, conservation rate has reached 3% of total consumption.