Tin mới
Energy for Economic Development (5/5)
05/05/2011 - 28 Lượt xem
Energy sector fuels economic development
Vietnam is very rich in natural resources. The country has abundant sources of primary energies such as coal, oil and gas, hydraulic power and diverse types of new and renewable energy. According to the development plan for the coal sector until 2020 with a vision to 2025, by January 1, 2008 the estimated reserve of coal is 40.93 billion tonnes, 34.69 billion tonnes of which are verified and 6.14 billion tonnes of which have been discovered. The national report on ability and developmental orientations for energy sector until 2020 with a vision to 2050 by the Energy Department of Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that the total reserve of oil and gas on Vietnamese continental shelf is 3.3-4.4 billion of cubic meters with gas accounting for 55-60 percent. In terms of hydroelectricity potential, according to assessment of the national research project 09 on building strategies for energy sustainable development, the country has about 75-80 billion kWh of electricity produced by hydroelectricity plants with the total capacity of 18,000-20,000MW. In addition, Vietnam has rich potential of renewable energy. Based on statistics, the country can produce 200MW of electricity from its geothermy in 2020. In addition, the sun shines for 2,000-2,500 hours per year with total caloric radiation of 150kCal/cu.cm per year. With abundant resources of wind power, Vietnam can produce 800-1,400kWh/sq.m annually on islands and 500-1,000kWh/sq.m in coastal areas of central region, Central Highland (Tay Nguyen) and south region.
With such plentiful potentials, it is obvious that energy makes a large contribution and act as a fuel resource for the country development. In the past years, the demand of energy has increased day by day, the energy sector has made enormous efforts to look for solutions to enhance production and meet economic development. In 1954, the electricity sector was established through taking over infrastructure system left by the French when running out of Vietnam. The infrastructure system included five backward electricity plants with total capacity of 31.5MW and production of 53 million kWh at that time. At present, the total electricity capacity of the country is 20,000MW. In 2010 alone, to meet the needs of production and daily life, the total amount of electricity (including electricity imported from foreign countries) was 91.6 million kWh, an increase of 14.9 percent from last year. Among those, 51.9 million kWh was produced by the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), an increase of 3.7 percent from last year and 32.5 million kWh imported from other countries, an increase of 42.9 percent from last year.
About oil and gas, in June 26, 1986, the Vietnam-Xoviet Union Oil and Gas Joint Venture produced the first tonne of oil from Bach Ho Oil Field, listing Vietnam on exploiting and exporting oil countries. The first Vietnamese oil refinery plant of Vietnam, the Dung Quat Oil Refinery Plant was established in 2011, marking a great advance of Vietnamese oil and gas sector. According to the General Statistics Office, the total amount of gas exploited in 2005 was 6.44 billion cubic meters while this figure in 2010 was 9.32 billion cubic meters, an increase of 44.72 percent. Total exploited oil was 15 million tonnes.
The coal sector has also seen remarkable growth to meet increasing demand. The production of coal was 34 million tonnes in 2005. This figure increased to 44 million tonnes in 2010, an increase of 29 percent.
Energy is among the key export sectors which create the largest economic values for the country. Crude oil always maintained its leading position in Vietnamese export products. The total export value of this product was US$7.73 billion in 2005. Although the policy on exploiting crude oil to serve domestic demands has been issued, thanks to an increase in energy tariff, the sector has seen a large amount of profit. The export revenue of fuel products, including crude oil, coal and minerals, hit US$7.92 billion, ranking second among the key export products.
It is the time of renewable energy
Rapid economic growth has promoted the demand of energy. To satisfy the demand of energy for economic development, especially in the context primary energy resource is going to a spiral of decline, exploiting and using new energy resources is a wise choice. The advantages of renewable energy are no emissions and limitation of reserve. Vietnam is taking the first steps to develop this type of energy through construction of Ninh Thuan Nuclear Electricity Plant with a capacity of 4,000MW and implementation of smaller projects such as the project on lighting Truong Sa archipelago by solar power electricity, wind power electricity plants in Ninh Thuan and solar power electricity plants in remote provinces. In addition, the country has seen a number of research project which succeed in producing products from renewable energy such as lamps using solar power and lamp using wind and solar powers. In addition, the dramatic growth of renewable energy services has contributed to the development of this type of energy.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong said: "The Ministry of Industry and Trade always encourages the development of new and renewable energy. The ministry has drafted support policies for this sector and made submission to the government." It is too early to affirm the predominance of renewable energy over traditional energy. However, the success of using renewable energy models and the involvement of the government, businesses and scientists in exploiting renewable have built a bright future for Vietnamese energy sector./.
Source: VEN.
