Over the years, EVN has cooperated with most international organizations, institutions, and large international energy corporations to meet the actual development requirements of the national power system. These substantive and practical relationships have contributed to supporting the development of Vietnam's electricity industry, which has grown strongly during the past years. One of those good relations is the case between Vietnam and the United States. The cooperation and development in the field of electricity between the two governments, non-governmental organizations and energy enterprises over the past years have had remarkable effects on different segments of the electricity sector.
Chairman of EVN's Member Board Duong Quang Thanh (right) welcoming a GE representative on 26th February 2019
Provide training and technical support to modernize the national power system
In the period from 2010 to 2020, the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has supported EVN with about 5 important technical assistance programs and projects with the granting amount of nearly USD 3.6 million through US consulting firms. These include important projects such as: "Information technology roadmap for the National Power Transmission Corporation" (IT Roadmap), the technical assistance project to build development plan and master architecture of information technology for the smart grid of Central Power Corporation in the period of 2015-2020 with a vision to 2025, research and development of energy storage systems in Vietnam, research and development of gas power projects in South Vietnam, etc.
In addition, training programs, expert support, study tours in the United States implemented by: USTDA, the United States Agency for International Cooperation (USAID), the Office of Technical Assistance of the US Treasury Department have assisted EVN a lot in the fields of smart electricity, renewable energy, and sustainable finance.
Especially, the Office of Technical Assistance, the US Department of the Treasury through technical assistance in the form of providing experts to assist EVN in the field of financial capacity improvement, sustainable financial management (reviewing the report on credit ratings and help to find strategic investors in the equitization of power generation corporations, etc).
EVN and USAID have cooperated to implement technical assistance on research and assessment of the impact of distributed solar power on the financial situation of EVN. In the two years of 2015 - 2016 alone, USTDA organized four delegations of experts, including EVN, to visit and study in the field of smart grids and energy storage.
EVN and USAID signed a cooperation agreement to provide technical assistance to promote the development of Solar power in Vietnam on 14 December 2020.
Cooperation in investment and equipment supply makes an important contribution to ensuring national energy security
In the period 2010 - 2020, Vietnam's electricity system is one of the systems with the highest growth rate in the world. The national commercial power output in 2020 will reach 216.83 billion kWh, an increase of 2.53 times compared to that in 2010 (85.6 billion kWh), corresponding to the average growth of commercial electricity in the period 2011-2020 at 9.7%/year (the period 2011 - 2015 increasing by 10.87%/year and in the period 2016 - 2020 by 8.62%/year). To meet the increasing demand for electricity, the issue of supply development is a key factor in ensuring national energy security. Being well aware of this importance, EVN attaches great importance to cooperative relations with the US-ASEAN Business Council. At the same time, many large US enterprises such as: GE, ExxonMobil, AES; banks, financial institutions, etc., have cooperated with EVN.
Exploiting cooperation potential through organizing events calling for investment, supporting information technology, providing technical support.
EVN is creating the best conditions for US businesses wishing and implementing investment projects in the power sector through information channels such as dialogues and forums. Through the direction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, EVN has cooperated with the US Embassy in Vietnam to organize and participate in dialogues at 02 Vietnam - US Energy Security Dialogue Forums in Hanoi in 2018and in the US in 2019. The US Embassy also provided EVN with a report made by ENR on the assessment and recommendations on electricity connection and exchange in the Mekong region (April 2020).
It is assessed that the potential for investment cooperation in the field of electricity between Vietnam and the United States is huge. EVN has been and will be one of the important cooperation links between the two countries in the field of electricity to achieve the desired effect and meet the actual needs of Vietnam's energy development.