The plan sets an overall goal of proactively participating in the global trend of low-carbon development; mobilizing all domestic and international resources for electricity development; studying and applying co-firing technologies combined with clean fuels to gradually reduce emissions of coal-fired power plants; providing a roadmap to phase out coal-fired power plants whose economic lifetime are expired and those using obsolete technologies. Promoting the exploitation and maximizing the use of renewable energy sources for electricity generation, ensuring sufficient, stable, and increasingly high-quality electricity supply with affordable electricity prices for socio-economic development, contributing to efforts to respond to global climate change. Developing and deploying comprehensive tasks and solutions to respond to climate change and energy transition to realize the commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The Plan clearly states specific goals for the period up to 2030, period 2031 - 2040, and period 2041 - 2050; and sets out tasks, solutions, and resources for implementation.

In particular, in terms of organization and implementation, Vietnam Electricity, Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industry Group, and investors of coal-fired power plants need to study and develop fuel conversion plans to use clean fuels for thermal power plants, ensuring economic efficiency of the plants; develop a plan to decommission coal-fired power plants which reach the end of its economic lifetime and cannot perform fuel conversion or carbon capture to meet requirements. Studying and developing solutions to ensure safe operation of the power system when converting from coal power to clean energy.

In the appendix of the list of key tasks, Decision No. 266/QD-TTg also assigns Vietnam Electricity to be in charge of implementing the following tasks: implementing a pilot study on applying coal fuel conversion of PC furnaces to cofire with ammonia fuel; implementing a pilot project of studying and installing carbon capture systems (CCS) for coal-fired power plants; upgrading and completing the power grid system in a way that facilitates the grid connection for renewable energy projects to effectively utilize these energy sources during the conversion process.

Details of Decision No. 266/QD-TTg here.

Translator: Vân Ly