Ms. Hyunjung Lee - ADB's senior energy and economist said that ADB is currently discussing with EVN and its partners to understand the needs in energy development to make appropriate support and cooperation recommendations in the next 3 years. ADB is expected to play the intermediary role to concentrate resources, and connecting multilateral cooperation to support the Vietnamese Government and businesses in the field of energy development.
In the current energy transition trend, ADB and partners like GEAPP are expected to support energy businesses by providing capital, technical consulting support, etc. Thereby, EVN and businesses energy are supported to transition coal-fired power plants, reduce CO2 emissions; at the same time expand investment in renewable energy and develop energy storage systems, etc.
EVN Vice President Ngo Son Hai (3rd from the right) and EVN's specialized departments welcoming and working with delegation from ADB and GEAPP
In particular, BESS is evaluated by ADB, GEAPP as an important technology with advantages in stability, redundancy, frequency control, etc. This is a suitable technology in the power system with a high proportion of renewable energy, in line with the future trend.
At the meeting, the experts also introduced to EVN about energy transition mechanism (ETM). At the same time, they spend a lot of time listening to EVN's sharing about the needs, as well as difficulties and challenges in the BESS project development.
EVN Vice President Ngo Son Hai highly appreciated the contributions from ADB and GEAPP in consulting on energy policy with authorities, providing technical assistance to EVN, etc.
EVN Vice President said that, with the support from ADB, over the past time, EVN has submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for pilot implementation of the BESS project with the goal of frequency regulation. The investment in BESS projects aims to achieve the goal of peak coverage in the North, contributing to the safe, stable, and efficient operation of the power system.
Delegation of ADB, GEAPP working at EVN headquarters
However, the actual investment cost of BESS is still high compared to that of frequency-controlled hydropower plants. In addition, to be able to implement the pilot BESS project, besides cost support and technical support, it is also necessary to clarify the investment recovery plan. At the same time, it is necessary to have a policy framework and mechanism to develop BESS so that many investors can participate in the implementation.
After the meeting, EVN, ADB, and GEAPP agreed to continue to discuss and implement specifically related works, to join hands to implement energy transition, together towards "net-zero" in 2050.