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  • Renewables
25 September 2019

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  • Vietnam
A rooftop solar power system being installed at a secondary school in HCM City’s Bình Chánh District. VNA/VNS.Photo Mạnh Linh

HCM CITY— Lê Đình Vũ, owner of a home decor store in HCM City’s Thủ Đức District, spent nearly VNĐ50 million (US$2,155) to install solar panels on the roof of his newly built house.

He uses the power they produce for daily activities and draws less from the national grid.

More and more people in the city like Vũ are opting for rooftop solar panels to reduce their monthly energy costs.

Companies too are installing them at their factories.

At the Saigon Hi-Tech Park, Sacom – Chip Sang Co., Ltd is using energy from a solar power system it installed on its office building this year.

The panels are being installed in schools and people’s committee offices across the city.

The HCM City Power Corporation (EVNHCMC) has in co-operation with suppliers of rooftop solar power facilities installed them at many schools.

The People’s Committee of District 12 has installed a system on its 300sq.m office.

In Bình Chánh District, 166 rooftop solar installations with a combined capacity of 5,283 kWp, 50 per cent higher than the target set by EVNHCMC, had been made as of June.

Of them, 152 were by households with their daily output being 1,945kWh, and the remaining 14 were by businesses with the output being 3,338kWh.

The Bình Chánh Power Company, a subsidiary of the EVNHCMC, said to achieve this it launched campaigns to educate residents and customers about the benefits of rooftop solar.

Besides, EVN and suppliers of rooftop solar power facilities have preferential policies and offer promotions like a 10 per cent discount on prices, interest-free loans and instalment payments.

It takes customers five to six years to recoup their investment.

Phạm Việt Anh, deputy head of communication at EVNHCMC, told Việt Nam News via email: “3,741 households, offices and enterprises in the city had installed rooftop solar with a total capacity of 42.7 MWp as of August 22.”

Of them, 3,521 are connected with the national grid, according to Anh.

EVNHCMC’s 19 subordinate units have installed grid-connected solar power systems with a total capacity of 1,127.9kWp.

“The city’s potential for solar energy is very high,” since it has high solar radiation of nearly 1,581 kWh per square metre per year, he said.

“The average number of sunshine hours is 100 to 300 and throughout the year unlike the northern region.”

The highest radiation level is 6.3 kWh per square metre per day in February and the lowest is 3.3 kWh in July.

According to the World Bank’s “Report on Technical Assessment of Rooftop Solar Energy Potential in Việt Nam” in 2017 HCM City has solar power potential of 6,300MW.

EVNHCMC has called on Government to soon announce new prices for buying surplus solar power for the grid in place of the old ones that expired in June.

Authorities should make installation of rooftop solar compulsory for administrative and non-business agencies and beneficiaries of the State budget, and make it a criterion in evaluating and ranking enterprises, it said.

To encourage people to use rooftop solar, there should be subsidies and other support, it added.

The city grid has sufficient capacity to accept power supplied from rooftop solar systems in houses and companies.

Anh admitted the high cost of installing solar energy systems discouraged many people and the solution would be to offer more preferential loans or incentives. — VNS

Read more at http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/535895/rooftop-solars-growing-popularity-in-hcm-city.html#rbc8AkjuCbfFQKer.99

  • Renewables
25 September 2019

 – 

  • Vietnam

HANOI (Viet Nam News/ANN) – Floating solar panels may just be catching on in Vietnam, but they could be about to grab a huge slice of the country’s renewable energy market.

Solar energy, especially photovoltaics (PV), is developing fast globally, driven by technological advancements and the falling cost of solar cells and modules.

Most solar energy installations are either ground-mounted or on the rooftops of commercial buildings or private residences. Floating solar, the term used to refer to floating PV structure installed on water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, mining or irrigation ponds, is expected to become the ‘next frontier’ of the solar energy industry.

Vietnam’s first floating solar farm on Da Mi Reservoir was connected to the power grid in May this year. The VNĐ1.2 trillion (US$51.5 million) plant, developed by Da Nhim-Ham Thuan-Da Mi Hydropower Joint Stock Company (DHD), has a total capacity of 47.5MWp (megawatt peak) and power output of about 70 million kWh per year.

The project features 143,940 solar panels on 50ha of the reservoir in Tanh Linh and Ham Thuan Bac districts of Binh Thuan Province. In the first phase, it is operating at a capacity of 20.5MWp.

According to Nguyen Trong Oanh, chairman of DHD, floating solar systems are similar to land-based solar power except the solar panels are installed on pontoon-type floats, with an anchoring and mooring system holding the platform in place.

Besides the advantage of using existing electricity transmission infrastructure at hydropower sites, eliminating the need for major site preparation, floating solar farms have been proven to bring higher energy yield thanks to the cooling effects of water and decreased presence of dust which hurts panel performance.

“Under the same solar radiation, floating solar installations will be more efficient than ground-mounted or rooftop solar power systems,” Oanh told Viet Nam News.

Last week, Dong Nai People’s Committee proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade develop eight floating solar farms on the man-made Tri An Lake. Spanning more than 7,100ha of water surface across different districts in the province, these floating solar projects would have total capacity of 5,400MWp and be added to the national power development plan by 2025.

“The potential for floating solar is quite promising in Vietnam, especially in existing hydropower reservoirs,” Jackie B Surtani, Director of Infrastructure Finance Division, ADB Private Sector Operations Department, told Viet Nam News.

Surtani said ADB had conducted “quick look” satellite imagery surveys of Vietnam’s hydropower resources and found there would easily be room for several gigawatts of floating solar in existing reservoirs. Protected bays are a second possibility for floating solar and could allow for hundreds of additional megawatts.

Hybrid hydro-PV system

Since the first floating PV system was built in 2007 in Japan, the floating solar market has been well established in many countries, with China the largest player. However, the development of hybrid systems that combine hydropower and floating solar is still at an early stage.

“The combination of hydropower and float solar is definitely feasible,” Surtani said.

Hydropower and solar can be co-located, with either floating or ground-mounted solar around a hydropower reservoir, he said, adding that using existing hydropower infrastructure reduces installation costs of the solar farm. Depending on daily demand, it is possible to reduce hydropower output during the day and bring it back up in the evening, with solar covering a portion of peak demand in the afternoon.

“The ADB-DHD floating project shows that the solar output can be coupled with hydropower output. In practice, hydropower output can be varied to smooth out or ‘mask’ the intermittency of solar output,” he said, saying that blending hydro and solar output required an intelligent energy management system, and this technology is proven and currently being used in Vietnam.

On the difficulties of developing Vietnam’s first hydro-floating solar system, Oanh said the project had received mixed feedback on its feasibility and efficacy.

“We’ve spent a lot of time researching, measuring radiation and environmental parameters, visiting similar works at home and abroad to support and prove the project’s efficiency,” Oanh said.

Since being put into operation in June, the performance of Da Mi solar power plant has been high thanks to the effective solar panels, which are naturally cooled by natural cooling surface temperatures, he said.

Project progress was also a major challenge. Oanh said to be able to sell electricity at 9.35 US cents/kWh, all solar power plants must be operational by June 30, 2019, thus the company rushed to complete the project and successfully run it commercially in early June, a month ahead of schedule.

He said the project was contributing to the development of the province by recruiting local workers, easing electricity shortages for the province and the southern region, as well as paying tax to the local budget.

The combination of hydro and solar power on the reservoirs could be a new direction in electricity in Vietnam but challenges remain.

“In my experience, utilising hydroelectric reservoirs to install solar power platforms will be only effective for lakes with low water level fluctuations,” Oanh said, adding that if water levels fluctuate greatly, the cost of the anchoring system would be very high.

Both local and foreign investors have shown interest in floating solar power in Vietnam. Vietnam Electricity is considering building floating solar farms on lakes and reservoirs in Binh Thuan, Dong Nai and Gia Lai provinces.

Companies from South Korea and Norway have carried out surveys in Vietnam, seeking partners to build floating solar power plants on lakes.

“The next phase of the renewable programme in Vietnam should focus on leveraging private sector competition to reduce the cost of renewable energy generation. If this goes through an auction or some other mechanism, Vietnam can benefit from lower generation costs,” Surtani said.

Technology is moving fast and Vietnam needs to catch up with the trend to rapidly transition to a green energy market.

  • Renewables
25 September 2019

 – 

  • Vietnam

According to experts, national energy transition process requires comprehensive and synchronised policies. Đỗ Đức Quân, Vice Director General of the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, speaks to Việt Nam News reporter Nguyễn Linh Anh about how to promote efficient and sustainable energy transition in Việt Nam.

To encourage the use of renewable energy, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has submitted to the Government a feed-in-tariff mechanism for solar, wind and biomass power. How effective are such mechanisms in promoting the use of renewable energy?

Feed-in tariffs (FIT) are designed to provide a fixed-price incentive to guarantee a certain level of benefits for renewable energy (RE) producers for each unit of energy produced and injected into the electricity grid. The payment of the FIT is guaranteed for a certain period of time that is often related to the economic lifetime of the respective RE project, usually between 15-25 years.

The FIT mechanism is designed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to promote the exploitation of domestic renewable energy sources, gradually increasing the proportion of renewable energy in national energy consumption, pushing to phase out fossil fuels and slow the onset of climate change.

The Government has issued Decision No 2068/QĐ-TTg, dated November 25, 2015, approving the development strategy of renewable energy of Việt Nam by 2030 with a vision to 2050.

One of the decision’s objectives is raising the percentage of produced power from renewable energy (including hydropower) in the total power of the country from about 35 per cent by 2015 to around 43 per cent by 2050.

FIT is one of the mechanisms developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to achieve these goals.

By the end of June, the total installed capacity of renewable energy projects across the country reached more than 5,000 MW, with about 4,442 MW of large-scale solar power and about 150 MW of rooftop solar power, 303 MW of wind power, 342 MW of biomass and nearly 10 MW of solid waste.

How does the Ministry of Industry and Trade encourage each locality to exploit and develop renewable energy?

Localities with high potential will have advantages and attract more investors. For example, the southern province of Ninh Thuận has great potential for solar energy and the southern province of Bình Thuận has great potential for wind power. Depending on the conditions of each province, provinces will provide additional support and incentives.

Some have argued that Vietnam Electricity (EVN) is selling electricity at prices lower or equal to the costs of investing in renewable energy, which has high infrastructure and research costs. This makes investors fear losses when investing in renewable energy projects. What’s your opinion?

I don’t agree with this idea totally.

By the end of 2018, total capacity of hydropower accounted for about 33 per cent of total installed capacity of the national power system. Many hydropower plants are selling power to the EVN at very low prices, such as Hoà Bình hydropower plant. As a result, we can buy electricity from the EVN at lower prices compared to the region.

In recent years, the exploitation of solar power in the world and in Việt Nam has increased rapidly due to the development of science and technology, with higher efficiency solar panels. In the future, the price of solar power will definitely compete with other power sources.

After two years applying the FIT mechanism, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is working with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank (WB) and some other Dialog Partners to study a new mechanism, known as competitive auction to select capable investors to develop renewable energy projects.

When we hold an auction, any investors offering the most suitable and cheapest price will be selected. The specific price will be determined by the market. Of course, all investors want us to buy their electricity at a high price, so their projects will become more financially feasible.

What should be done to ensure the transition to renewable energy does not affect people’s livelihoods, employment structures and avoids land conflicts?

The transition to renewable energy needs to fit the development of scientific and technological innovation, the cost of production, the conditions for economic development in each period and affordability of the people, to ensure the safe operation of the transmission system while ensuring investment attraction.

We should not keep the existing FIT mechanism over a long period of time as it may lead to overheated development of solar power projects, which can lead to conflicts in land use.

The auction-based system I mentioned earlier helps ensure the harmony of renewable energy projects’ development. The competitive auction mechanism is expected to help the prices of electricity from RE projects reflect the rapid price reduction of RE equipment and avoid the risk of land conflicts. — VNS

Read more at http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/535897/where-next-for-renewable-energy.html#PJl8HGE0vXVFZ6tw.99

  • Others
25 September 2019

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  • Vietnam

A Sembcorp Industries unit has entered into a tripartite partnership with Vietnam state-owned property developer Becamex IDC Corporation (Becamex) and Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park JV Co (VSIP) to bring smart energy solutions to Vietnam.

VSIP is one of the largest integrated townships and industrial parks co-initiated by the Singapore and Vietnam governments, and developed by Sembcorp Development and Becamex.

The latest joint venture agreement was struck by the group’s unit, Sembcorp Smart Energy Solutions Vietnam, and will see the creation of solutions for renewable energy, waste-to-energy, wastewater treatment and water recycling.

The solutions will be implemented in VSIP’s various integrated townships and industrial parks, as well as other Becamex-owned industrial parks and facilities in Vietnam.

The first completed project under this partnership is a 51 kilowatt-peak rooftop solar farm sitting on top of a 12,000 sq ft VSIP administrative building in Binh Duong province.

This project marks Sembcorp’s foray into the renewable energy sector in Vietnam, and will see the group make plans to develop rooftop solar facilities in other sites under VSIP and Becamex.

Mr Koh Chiap Khiong, Sembcorp Industries’ head of Singapore, South-east Asia and China (Energy), said: “We believe these solutions will enable us to provide greater value-add to partners and customers of VSIP and Becamex, by helping them to manage their carbon emissions and achieve cost savings at the same time.”

Becamex chairman and VSIP Group co-chairman Nguyen Van Hung said they wanted to ensure that VSIP and Becamex integrated developments continue to drive investments for the long term.

“Environmentally friendly features that enhance the sustainability of these projects will help to maximise their overall value to the economy and benefit the communities around us with cleaner environments,” he added.

Sembcorp said the agreement is not expected to have a material impact on the earnings per share and net asset value of the group for the fiscal year ending Dec 31.

  • Renewables
25 September 2019

 – 

  • Vietnam

HÀ NỘI – Many businesses and investors are waiting for the Government’s decision on the feed-in tariff (FiT) rate for solar power projects nationwide, which is expected to be released this month, to set up long-term investments in solar power projects in Việt Nam.

The current FiT of 9.35 US cents per kWh has been applied for all kinds of solar technologies, including floating solar power projects, ground-mounted solar power projects and rooftop solar power projects, under the FiT programme between June 1, 2017 and June 30, 2019, in which the investors enjoy price incentives for 20 years.

In a draft decision by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) recently submitted to Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc for consideration, the FiT will change for different types of technology as of this year.

The ministry proposed to reduce the buying price to 7.69 cents per kWh for floating solar power projects and 7.09 cents for ground-mounted solar power projects. Meanwhile, the rate of 9.35 US cents will be maintained for rooftop solar power projects.

Speaking with local media at the Energy Week 2019 which took place in Hà Nội on Tuesday, Deputy Director of the MoIT’s Renewable Energy Department Đỗ Đức Quân said the FiT is applied for a certain number of years in order to encourage renewable energy development in each period.

He said if the Prime Minister approved the MoIT’s new FiT programme, it will remain effective until December 31, 2021.

The new FiT rate is extremely important for Việt Nam’s renewable energy industry, challenging policymakers, Government ministries and agencies to head towards long-term research and assessing investment volume, which must harmonise benefits for all participants, ensuring the industry’s sustainable development.

To enjoy the Government’s price incentives, which ended on June 30 this year, the country witnessed nearly 90 solar power plants being put into operation with a total capacity of over 4,500MW in May and June, far exceeding the plan of only 850 MW of solar power in 2020 approved in the Power Development Master Plan VII (PDP VII), causing overloading on the national grid at certain distribution lines and at certain period of day time.

According to Nguyễn Đức Cường, Director of the National Load Dispatch Centre (EVN NLDC), investors have been made aware of the overloading in a public and transparent manner.

“We want to generate all power from renewable energy, because the price is high but it is still cheaper than thermal power sources,” Cường said.

We have put all efforts into ensuring solar plants are put into operation and add power to the national grid, however these plants have to reduce capacity due to the grid overload, which is something we did not expect,” Cường said.

Insiders say that the first thing that needs to be done immediately is to find solutions for power transmission projects. If the overloading lasts for too long, all participants, including investors and power purchasers, will be impacted.

In the future, it is necessary for the MoIT, local governments, investors and the Vietnam Electricity to work together to solve this problem, especially in terms of site clearance to accelerate the progress of transmission projects, thereby freeing up the capacity of the plants and supplementing the country’s electricity.

The MoIT has recently proposed the Government supplement the PDP VII, building power grid projects in the southern provinces of Bình Thuận and Ninh Thuận, which are the solar energy hubs of the country.

It’s expected that more projects will receive investment later this year and early next year.

The overloading of the grid is only one of the key challenges facing the Government and relevant ministries in building a sustainable renewal energy industry.

According to Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Director of the Renewable Energy Centre under the Institute of Energy, there are many things that must be solved to speed up the development of renewable energy as the country faces exhaustion of natural resources such as coal, oil and gas.

He said Việt Nam has significant potential to develop renewable energy, including small hydro, wind power, solar power, biomass, biogas, municipal solid waste and geo-thermal electricity. The assessment for investment must be based on three pillars of theoretical, technological and economic potential.

The potential of solar power is high because its price is good for investors. As for wind power, the potential of onshore wind power is relatively moderate because its buying price is low, while offshore wind potential has not yet been subject to scientific assessment and accurate figures because the cost of wind measurement is very high.

“Understanding the potential and accurate assessment is relatively insufficient and the reliability is not high, leading to difficulties for the investors,” Tuấn said.

Tuấn said the biggest and most important challenge for renewable energy is production cost, which is still higher (without subsidy) than the traditional technologies used by coal, oil and gas industries.

“The evidence is in solar power. We previously set development goals but did not have a good buying price mechanism, making it difficult to develop the sector. But since 2017, the Government issued the FiT at a price of 9.35 cents per kWh, and we saw booming construction of solar power plants and selling power to the State,” Tuấn said.

“With other types of renewable technologies, if you have a reasonable electricity purchase policy, that ensures economic feasibility for investors, you will also see an increase in development,” Tuấn said.

In terms of technology, he said the development of infrastructure would be necessary. Most advanced technologies are currently imported, while the operation and supply service chains are not yet available.

“The technologies are very expensive, but it’s difficult for businesses to access capital sources. They can get investment capital from banks, however it is difficult for banks to assess the value and evaluate risks in renewable energy projects,” Tuấn said.

Under the Strategy of Renewable Energy Development to 2030, Việt Nam will engage all of its social resources for investment in renewable energy development, encouraging the development and use of renewable energy, and striving to raise the share of renewable energy in the national energy sector.

The strategy aims to reduce GHG emissions, as pledged under the Paris COP21 Agreement, by 5 per cent by 2020 and, with international assistance and support, by 25 per cent by 2030. It sets the target to increase the electricity output produced by renewable sources from approximately 58 billion kWh in 2015 to 101 billion kWh by 2020, and 186 billion kWh by 2030, as well as increasing the rate of households with solar energy equipment from 4.3 per cent in 2015 to approximately 12 per cent and 26 per cent by 2020 and 2030, respectively. — VNS

Read more at http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/535898/new-fit-rate-expected-to-promote-investment-in-solar-energy.html#vk4uCdScXEzqGIRP.99

  • Renewables
25 September 2019

 – 

  • Singapore

MELBOURNE: Atlassian Corp co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has pledged to help fund an ambitious A$20 billion ($14 billion) project to supply solar power from northern Australia to Singapore by a subsea cable, an Australian newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The plan unveiled earlier this year by Singapore firm Sun Cable is to build the world’s largest solar farm in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, which could export 3 gigawatts of power via a 3,800 km (2360 miles) cable to Singapore.

Cannon-Brookes did not specify how much of the “insane” project his family fund, Grok, planned to finance but said he was being joined by other Australian entrepreneurs and an announcement was likely before the end of the year.

“I’m backing it, we’re going to make it work, I’m going to build a wire,” the Australian Financial Review (AFR) quoted Cannon-Brookes saying in an interview on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.

Sun Cable, which has not detailed its funding plans for the project, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The project, which has been given major project status by the Northern Territory to help fast-track approvals, would include battery storage.

Cannon-Brookes, who has been a vocal advocate for renewable energy in Australia, said the project could also expand to produce hydrogen fuel, which could be exported to markets such as Japan.

“This will be absolutely great — with world-leading engineering required all up and down. But we can do it,” he was quoted saying in the AFR.

Cannon-Brookes, 39, became a billionaire through his stake in the software firm Atlassian, which he co-founded with Scott Farquhar.

He made his name in the power sector in 2016 when he challenged Tesla Inc’s Elon Musk via Twitter to build the world’s biggest battery in 100 days to help prevent blackouts in South Australia, the country’s most wind power reliant state.

The bet was dismissed as outrageous at the time, but Tesla built the battery on time and the project has since proven to be profitable in helping manage power supply on South Australia’s shaky grid.

  • Renewables
25 September 2019

 – 

  • ASEAN

Before his father entered the operating theatre for emergency heart surgery in 2008, Robin Pho promised he would join the family’s business, an Indonesian supplier of manpower for the oil and gas industry, which had been struggling to stay afloat in the wake of that year’s financial crisis.

When oil prices collapsed in 2014, many clients ceased drilling. With its mechanics, welders and electricians no longer needed, the small family business, unwilling to abandon its people, sought a new way forward, and decided the future lay in clean energy, shared Pho.

Right People Renewable Energy, a Singapore-based renewable energy firm that Pho now runs as chief executive officer, was born. Venturing into renewables was no easy task, he told Eco-Business, but with some capacity development, many of his employees formerly working in oil and gas now distribute, construct and maintain solar panels across Indonesia.

As Southeast Asia adopts more clean energy technologies, it is vital that its workforce is trained in the necessary skills, said Yongping Zhai, director of the Asian Development Bank’s energy division.

“The region is not fully ready for an overnight switch to renewables,” he said. “There are skilled workers in coal power plants, but for them to enter the clean energy sector, they need training and capacity building.”

As of 2016, renewables supported 611,000 jobs in the Association of Southeast Asian nations (Asean). Liquid biofuel production accounted for the majority, followed by large hydropower and solar photovoltaics, according to a 2018 assessment of Southeast Asia’s renewable energy market by the Abu-Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

IRENA expects the region’s clean energy industries to employ about 1.7 million people by 2030, based on energy plans and policies now in place. Should Asean members accelerate deployment in line with the region’s renewable energy potential, the sector could supply 2.2 million jobs.

With the bulk of manufacturing capacity having shifted to Asia, the world’s most populous region is home to the largest share—60 per cent—of the global clean energy workforce, according to a 2019 report by IRENA. China is the clear leader, accounting for 39 per cent of employment in renewables. The solar photovoltaic industry employed most of China’s 4.1 million clean energy workers last year, followed by solar water heating and wind.

growth in renewable energy jobs in Asean

Eco-Business graphic: Growth in renewable energy jobs in Asean, 2016-2030. With current energy plans and policies, nearly 1.7 million people could be working in Southeast Asia’s clean energy sector by 2030. With scaled-up deployment, this number could rise to 2.2 million, according to IRENA. Source: IRENA.

Eco-Business graphic Power generation in Southeast Asia by sector overall

Eco-Business graphic: Power generation in Southeast Asia by sector, 2017. Image: Wikipedia CommonsCC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Climatescope, BloombergNEF

Coaching Asean’s clean energy workers

While coal will remain a key energy source in Asean over the coming years, its significance is likely to decline in the long run as costs for wind and solar power fall and Asean countries seek to combat air pollution and meet international climate goals.

It is estimated that by 2020 onshore wind and solar photovoltaics will be consistently less expensive sources of new electricity than the cheapest coal, oil or natural gas options, without financial assistance.

The Asean bloc has also set the target of generating 23 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2025.

Although communities that depend on coal will not need to fear for their jobs in the next few years, opportunities in fossil fuels are set to decline eventually, while the clean energy labour market will keep growing, said Shiva Subramanian, founder at Singapore-headquartered clean energy firm Rice Renewables and managing director at solar engineering company Goggles Energy.

One way to prevent a shortage of the skills required for the shift towards clean energy is closer collaboration among the Asean states to enable professionals to tap into training opportunities beyond their national borders, said Robin Pho.

If Indonesia, for instance, is to divorce itself from coal as recently suggested by the country’s president, the archipelago will need to train an adequate workforce, for which it currently lacks the educational institutions, he noted.

In this case, Singapore—home to non-government business associations like the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) and the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at the National University of Singapore—could step in and function as a platform for capacity development, he said.

He added that joint ventures between more experienced foreign companies and local firms had also proven to be a suitable business model to share expertise, allowing local workers to expand their knowledge.

One of the benefits of working in renewables is being able to sleep well at night, knowing that you are doing something positive for the world. There is no point in having a fat bank account when you cannot breathe the air around you.

Robin Pho, chief executive officer, Right People Renewable Energy

Moreover, professionals from other industries looking to gain a foothold in renewables should build on their existing skills, said Subramanian.

“There are plenty of training programmes designed for professionals who want to switch to clean energy. They facilitate the transition, especially for those looking to make use of the skills they already have,” he shared.

Offshore development expertise acquired in the oil and gas sector, for example, could be a great asset in the construction, assembly and deployment of platforms for the offshore wind industry, according to IRENA.

Hans van Mameren, a 50-year veteran of the shipping trade before launching Singapore-based renewable energy consultancy Energy Renewed in 2017, noted that switching Southeast Asia’s workforce from fossil fuel extraction and burning to renewables would require adequate education, training and labour policies, but enabling the transition was also a matter of mindset.

He said: “Humans find it difficult to accept change, but climate change will force us to adapt. Universities will need to provide new training. Finance will need to create new opportunities. Governments will need to provide new frameworks and give guidance.”

Asean’s clean energy transition coincides with a major change in mindset among Southeast Asia’s youth, said Robin Pho of Right People Renewable Energy. 68 million new workers will enter Asean’s labour force by 2025, many of them not only looking to earn a living, but also to effect positive change, he noted.

“The younger generations are even more passionate about climate change and renewable energy than we are. Many already look for jobs while studying, and they are more interested in jobs that make a difference than ones that pay well,” he said.

Increasing awareness is also shaping the region’s institutions, with green-minded students aiming to acquire knowledge that will enable them to have a positive impact, said Pho. Singapore Management University’s launch of Southeast Asia’s first sustainability major is just one example of how the region’s education landscape is adapting to this change.

Renewable energy jobs (thousand jobs) in Southeast Asia in 2016

Eco-Business graphic: Renewable energy jobs (thousand jobs) in Southeast Asia in 2016, by technology. Source: IRENA

Diverse opportunities, equal access

Jobs in clean energy are diverse across industries and companies, according to IRENA’s 2018 report. The skillsets and occupational patterns in the agricultural supply chain for bioenergy, for instance, differ greatly from those in the solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal industries.

Jobs also vary widely across Asean members, which all focus on different energy sources.

Career outlooks in renewables look particularly rosy for workers boasting technical skills, especially in the solar industry. Employment in the sector could increase six-fold to 333,400 workers, of which 70 per cent will deliver technical, operations and construction services by 2030, reads IRENA’s analysis.

Driving such development is also the region’s growing manufacturing industry, with several Asean countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam emerging as solar panel exporters, according to IRENA’s latest annual assessment of jobs in the industry.

Expertise that is in particularly high demand is electrical engineering with skills in clean energy solutions. The problem is that most engineers are currently specialised in technologies different from those used in the renewables sector, said Pho.

Electricity produced by solar photovoltaics, for instance, is stored in batteries that use direct current (DC) instead of alternating current (AC), and electrical workers with experience in such systems are often hard to find, he shared.

Solar PV jobs in Southeast Asia in 2030

Eco-Business graphic: Solar PV jobs in Southeast Asia in 2030, by occupation (thousand jobs). Source: IRENA

That said, renewables provide opportunities for workers with different talents and skills, offering diverse employment up and down the value chain, including an abundance of non-technical career opportunities for marketing and sales personnel, financial analysts and logistics experts, Pho told Eco-Business.

Clean energy jobs are also widely available to workers without university degrees. Yongping Zhai of the Asian Development Bank said: “The renewable energy sector offers plenty of jobs for people with different backgrounds and qualifications. And a lot of these, such as electricians, installers or repairers, do not require higher education.”

And in a region where the struggle for gender equality is far from being won, renewables could help bridge the gender gap. Women represent 32 per cent of the global clean energy workforce, which is significantly higher than the 22 per cent average in the oil and gas industry, a 2019 report by IRENA titled Renewable Energy: A Gender Perspective reads.

This is because renewable energy offers opportunities in a greater variety of disciplines, making the sector appeal to women in ways that the fossil fuel industry does not, the study shows.

Pho of Right People Renewable Energy said: “One of the benefits of working in renewables is being able to sleep well at night, knowing that you are doing something positive for the world. There is no point in having a fat bank account when you cannot breathe the air around you.”

  • Renewables
25 September 2019

 – 

  • Vietnam

This month saw the inauguration of the largest solar power plant in Southeast Asia, Dau Tieng in Vietnam, by Dau Tieng Energy JSC and Thailand’s B Grimm Power Public Company Limited.

It was built in Tay Ninh province, which borders Cambodia’s Tbong Khmum and Svay Rieng provinces, at a cost of more than 9.1 trillion dong ($390 million).

Japan’s Fujiwara company had earlier built a 50MW solar farm in Binh Dinh province at a cost of 1.3 trillion dong.

Many Indian companies have invested in the Vietnamese solar energy sector, including Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure Capital Company Ltd and Adani Group, and many others have evinced interest in green energy projects in this country.

K Srikar Reddy, the consul general of India in Ho Chi Minh City, said: “Many Indian companies have submitted proposals for developing solar plants in many provinces in Vietnam like Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Binh Phuoc, Phu Yen, Ben Tre, Soc Trang, Gia Lai, Lam Dong and Kon Tum.

“Moreover, many Indian companies specialising in EPC [engineering, procurement and construction] work are looking for opportunities to execute renewable energy projects in Vietnam.”

In addition to foreign companies, foreign investment funds also have a growing interest in the sector.

After putting into operation the BCG-CME Long An 1 solar plant in Long An province – which borders Cambodia’s Prey Veng and Svay Rieng provinces last June, Vietnam-Oman Investment Fund (VOI) and BCG-CME Joint Venture plan to begin operating the BCG-CME Long An 2 solar plant next month, said VOI investment director Nguyen Xuan Giao.

VOI was one of the first foreign investors along with the BCG-CME joint venture to generate renewable energy, he said.

Talking about future investment plans in the sector, Giao said: “VOI is committed to investing large sums long-term in building and developing a chain of BCG-CME Long An solar power plants.”

Nguyen Hong Giang, marketing director of Tona Syntegra Solar, a joint venture between a German and a Vietnamese company that specialises in consultancy for solar equipment procurement and installation and connects local and foreign investors, said: “I see a great investment trend among foreign investors in solar energy in Vietnam.

“We have worked with many foreign funds, including from Australia, Malaysia and Germany, and they target investments of hundreds of millions of dollars in solar energy.”

Considering that Vietnam has high demand for electricity to drive economic growth, and the government offers incentives to encourage investors in the sector, including high feed-in tariffs, it is understandable that foreign investors are eager to invest in the country’s power sector, particularly renewables, according to experts and businesses.

GIZ Energy Support Programme project director Ingmar Stelter said around 4,500MW of mainly large solar power plants went on stream in the three months between April and June 30, when feed-in tariffs were reduced.

“In Germany, we installed half of that in six months. That is the massive dynamic we have seen in the solar market in Vietnam.”

Giang said investors were waiting for the new feed-in tariffs for solar projects, and if they are as high as they expect, there would be a new boom in the solar energy sector.

Challenges

Despite the great potential, investment in the solar energy sector still faces challenges related to capital, land, electricity purchase price policies, and grid connection.

Giao said: “According to experts’ calculations, to generate 1MW of solar power requires one to 1.5ha of land [2ha for 1MW of wind power]. The central and southern provinces which have potential for solar power are limited in land availability.

“For infrastructure projects, solar in particular, the bank loan interest is still too high. Very few banks have special lending programmes for renewable energy projects.

“It takes three years to build a 500kV transmission line and two years for a 220kV transmission line. A solar power project with a capacity of 50-100MW just takes six to eight months to build.

“Therefore, the development of grid and transmission infrastructure cannot keep up with the progress of solar power projects.”

Stelter said the high concentration of renewable energy projects in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces caused grid congestion there, and solar and wind plants had to reduce their power output.

“Indian investors are worried that they have to now operate below capacity due to insufficient transmission infrastructure,” Reddy said.

“To augment the transmission system for evacuation of large-scale renewable energy, Vietnam could consider developing high-voltage transmission lines similar to the ‘green energy corridor’ in India.”

To develop solar energy, Giao said the government should develop “a consistent feed-in tariff policy for the medium term [10-15 years], which would reassure investors”.

“The private sector has great potential in solar energy development. Therefore, the government needs to have mechanisms to encourage banks, foreign funds and international and domestic organisations to participate in the Vietnamese solar energy market.”

The economy is expected to grow at 6.5-7.5 per cent annually until 2030, and requires 90,000MW and 130,000MW of power by 2025 and 2030.

The government plans to increase solar power from virtually nothing at the end of 2017 to 850MW by next year, accounting for 1.6 per cent of power output, and 12,000MW by 2030 or 3.3 per cent.

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