China key to Vietnam’s solar success

Chinadialogue.net

A rapid rise in Vietnam’s solar power has been boosted by Chinese finance and technology, but more support is still going to fossil fuels

Solar energy in Vietnam has grown rapidly since 2018, supported by Chinese finance and technology (Image: Alamy)Solar energy in Vietnam has grown rapidly since 2018, supported by Chinese finance and technology (Image: Alamy)

Linh Pham

June 30, 2021

Vietnam has been a Southeast Asia solar success story. It went from having barely any generation in 2018 to a quarter of its total installed capacity being solar – a 100-fold increase in two years.

This rapid growth is mainly down to the Vietnamese government’s feed-in tariff which provides a guaranteed above-market price for renewable energy producers; other incentives signed off in 2017 in an attempt to pivot away from lagging fossil fuel projects; and cheaper solar panels, some of which are assembled domestically.

Around 99% of the installed solar panels in Vietnam come from China. At the same time, China is one of the few countries that still lends Vietnam money to build coal plants.

China’s future role in Vietnam’s power system will be shaped by the latter’s newest plan for its power sector. The final version of the Power Development Plan 8 is due to be published in June, though it has been postponed before and may be again.

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Asia’s new coal plant plans jeopardize climate targets, report says

China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam plan to build more than 600 new coal-fired power projects, with a combined capacity of more than 300 gigawatts. Most would prove uneconomical and the new plants would put international climate goals out of reach.

By Reuters   June 30, 2021 | 08:37 am GMT+7 VNExpressAsia's new coal plant plans jeopardize climate targets, report saysA coal power plant in Vietnam’s northern province of Thai Binh in 2019. photo by VnExpress/Gia Chinh.

Five Asian countries including Vietnam are responsible for 80 percent of new coal power plants planned around the world, the Carbon Tracker group said on Wednesday.

China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam plan to build more than 600 new coal-fired power projects, with a combined capacity of more than 300 gigawatts, the group said, adding most would prove uneconomical and the new plants would put international climate goals out of reach.

Tiếp tục đọc “Asia’s new coal plant plans jeopardize climate targets, report says”

Vietnam needs coal-fired plants for 15 years at least

By Duc Minh   March 19, 2021 | 10:14 am GMT+7 VNExpressVietnam needs coal-fired plants for 15 years at leastVinh Tan Power Plant 4 in the central province of Binh Thuan. Photo by Shutterstock/pDang86.Despite the associated environmental problems, Vietnam cannot do without coal-fired power plants for another 15 years at least, experts say.

There is no current alternative that can help Vietnam ensure energy security and maintain stable prices, they add.

There are several coal-fired plants in the pipeline, set to be be built by 2025, including the Nam Dinh 1 and Thai Binh 2 in northern Vietnam, and even after 2035 the country will still need a small number of coal-fired plants to keep prices from rising too high, the Institute of Energy says in a comment on the country’s latest energy development plan.

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Samsung targeted by NGOs for proposal to build coal power station in Vietnam

Famous for innovation in consumer electronics and a progressive approach to sustainability, Samsung has been called out by NGOs for links to the construction of the controversial Vung Ang 2 coal-fired power plant in Vietnam.
News that electronics giant Samsung’s construction arm could be building a controversial coal-fired power station in Vietnam has surprised environmentalists, and prompted a campaign that highlights the environmental and social impact of the project.News emerged on Monday (10 August) that Samsung Construction & Trading (C&T) is considering participation in the 1,200 megawatt Vung Ang 2 coal project in Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province.

The proposed plant has been repeatedly targeted by NGOs in recent years for its potential to pollute and exacerbate the climate crisis, and a number of companies including Standard Chartered BankOCBC Bank and DBS have withdrawn from Vung Ang 2, citing conflicts with tightened climate policies.

Campaigners have also pointed out that Vung Ang 2 has air pollution standards far lower than those in Korea, which is one of the world’s biggest investors in overseas coal projects.

A collective of green groups including Greenpeace, Solutions for Our Climate and Market Forces said in a campaign due to run in international media this week that Samsung’s involvement in Vung Ang 2 goes against group-level sustainability pledges, which include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and will tarnish the company’s brand image.

“Innovation is such a big focus for Samsung. It seems odd that a company so focused on building the next new thing wants to build 19th century technology,” Bernadette Maheandiran, a researcher for investments watchdog Market Forces, told Eco-Business.

The campaign launches less than a month after environmental protests prompted Samsung Securities, the conglomerate’s financial investment arm, to withdraw from the Adani Abbot Point coal terminal in Australia. Prostesters had called for a boycott of Samsung products. Tiếp tục đọc “Samsung targeted by NGOs for proposal to build coal power station in Vietnam”

Vietnam increases coal import for thermal power activities

vietnamnet 14/08/2020    15:44 GMT+7

Vietnam has increasingly imported coal and crude oil during the social distancing period for thermal power plants.

Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs show that in July, Vietnam imported nearly 4.4 million tonnes of coal at the cost of VND1.4m (USD60) a tonne. In the first seven months, Vietnam imported a total of 36 million tonnes for USD2.5bn.

Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam increases coal import for thermal power activities”

Vietnam coal consumption growth among world’s fastest

vnexpress.net

By Dat Nguyen   July 20, 2020 | 05:52 pm GMT+7

Vietnam coal consumption growth among world’s fastest

Workers pick out gravel from coal at a coal port in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham.

Vietnam posted the highest growth in coal consumption among the top 10 global consumers last year, a report found.

The country consumed 2.07 exajoules of electricity from coal last year, up 30.2 percent year-on-year, according to the “BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020” report by energy firm BP.

Lỗ hổng an ninh năng lượng – 5 bài

Trong 3 năm trở lại đây, đầu tư cho ngành năng lượng, gồm điện – than – dầu khí, suy giảm đã tạo ra khoảng trống, gây áp lực lớn lên an ninh năng lượng của nước ta. Với một nền kinh tế có tốc độ tăng trưởng cao, liên tục, để thoát “bẫy thu nhập trung bình”, thì an ninh năng lượng phải là trụ cột trong chính sách phát triển, chứ không thể là “gót chân Asin” của nền kinh tế.

Tiếp tục đọc “Lỗ hổng an ninh năng lượng – 5 bài”

BlackRock Warns Korea’s Power Giant on Overseas Coal Plant Push

(Bloomberg) — BlackRock Inc. has challenged Korea Electric Power Corp. over plans to invest in new coal-fired power plants in Vietnam and Indonesia.

The world’s top asset manager raised concerns over “several controversial coal projects” with a South Korean utility, including in meetings in the first quarter, it said in a report last month. BlackRock “contacted the CEO seeking a clear strategic rationale for its investments in coal energy,” it said, without naming the company.

Kepco, as the utility is known, confirmed Thursday that it received a letter from BlackRock, which it said requested fuller disclosure of its planned involvement in new coal-fired plants overseas.
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Việt Nam trước sức ép thoái vốn nhiệt điện than

forbesvietnam.com

Trong bối cảnh thoái vốn nhiệt điện than đang diễn ra mạnh mẽ trên toàn cầu, Việt Nam được cảnh báo đối mặt với nguy cơ bị mắc kẹt vào tổn thất kép cả về tài chính và môi trường, nếu định hướng năng lượng vẫn chủ yếu dựa vào nhiệt điện than.

“SÓNG” THOÁI VỐN NHIỆT ĐIỆN THAN. Một cảnh báo mới về các thị trường vốn toàn cầu được cựu thống đốc ngân hàng Anh Mark Carney đưa ra mới đây, dự báo về “cơn sóng thần” tổn thất tài sản do bị mắc kẹt bởi nhiên liệu hóa thạch. Khả năng lên tới 20.000 tỉ USD nếu thế giới không tuân thủ Thỏa thuận Khí hậu Paris.

Việt Nam trước sức ép thoái vốn nhiệt điện than - ảnh 1

Drax từng là nhà máy nhiệt điện than lớn nhất châu Âu, đang chuyển đổi sang cung cấp năng lượng sinh khối vào năm 2021. Ảnh: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Tiếp tục đọc “Việt Nam trước sức ép thoái vốn nhiệt điện than”

Japanese bank Mizuho to stop lending to coal power plants

19:20 | 19/04/2020
Japanese financial giant Mizuho Financial Group will stop investing and offering loans to new coal power projects as well as end all loans for coal by 2050.

Mizuho – one of the three so-called megabanks of Japan – plans to reduce its outstanding balance of JPY300 billion ($2.8 billion) in loans to coal power plants by half by the 2030 fiscal year and reduce it to zero by 2050. The bank will go to great lengths to de-carbonate as coal power plants emit massive amounts of CO2 – a major contributor to global warming, according to Asahi.
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HÀN QUỐC SẼ ĐÓNG CỬA TỚI 28 NHÀ MÁY NHIỆT ĐIỆN THAN ĐỂ CHỐNG Ô NHIỄM KHÔNG KHÍ TRONG THÁNG 3/2020

Bộ Năng lượng Hàn Quốc vừa công bố sẽ tạm dừng hoạt động tới 28 nhà máy nhiệt điện than vào tháng 3/2020 để chống ô nhiễm không khí. Nước này hiện có khoảng 60 nhà máy nhiệt điện than, đóng góp vào 40% sản lượng điện cả nước.

Ô nhiễm bụi mịn ở Hàn Quốc xếp thứ 26 trên thế giới, theo bảng xếp hạng chất lượng không khí 2019 (IQAir), với nồng độ bụi mịn trung bình là 24,8µg/m³. Việt Nam đứng thứ 15 với nồng độ bụi mịn trung bình 34.1µg/m³. [1]
Tiếp tục đọc “HÀN QUỐC SẼ ĐÓNG CỬA TỚI 28 NHÀ MÁY NHIỆT ĐIỆN THAN ĐỂ CHỐNG Ô NHIỄM KHÔNG KHÍ TRONG THÁNG 3/2020”

Vietnam May Back Off From Coal as Plants Get Harder to Build

(Bloomberg) — Follow Bloomberg on LINE messenger for all the business news and analysis you need. Vietnam may scale back a plan to boost coal’s role in its power generation as financial restrictions and local environmental concerns make it more difficult to build plants. The National Steering Committee for Power Development has recommended eliminating about 15 gigawatts of planned new coal plan

Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/vietnam-may-back-away-from-coal-as-plants-get-harder-to-build?utm_source=Mekong+Eye&utm_campaign=583690c75e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_10_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5d4083d243-583690c75e-527526165
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Vietnam reduces plan to build new coal plants amid fiscal and environmental concerns

Vietnam is scaling back a plan to build new coal plants, as financial restrictions and local environmental concerns increase the difficulty and complexity of constructing such facilities.

The National Steering Committee for Power Development has recommended eliminating about 15 gigawatts of planned new coal plants by 2025 due to slow progress and the unwillingness of some regions to develop them, according to state-controlled news website VietnamPlus. The central government will have final say on the plan. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam reduces plan to build new coal plants amid fiscal and environmental concerns”

Japanese Environment Minister opposes Vietnam coal-fired project involving Japan firm

Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters at the venue of the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Madrid, on Dec. 15, 2019. (Kyodo)

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi expressed opposition Tuesday to the planned construction of a coal-fired power plant in Vietnam involving a major Japanese trading firm, saying it is at odds with measures to mitigate global warming and subject to international criticism.

“This (project) is not something we can get the understanding of Japanese citizens or the international community for,” Koizumi said at a press conference, although he has no power to stop the plan.

Tiếp tục đọc “Japanese Environment Minister opposes Vietnam coal-fired project involving Japan firm”

Nhiệt điện than và nguy cơ với thủy sản

nongnghiep.vn 

Trung tâm Phát triển Sáng tạo Xanh (tổ chức khoa học – công nghệ trực thuộc Liên hiệp các Hội Khoa học và Kỹ thuật Việt Nam) vừa có nghiên cứu “Phân tích chi phí, lợi ích của kịch bản năng lượng dưới góc nhìn của khu vực đồng bằng sông Cửu Long”.

08-18-14_0301201
Chuyên gia sinh thái Nguyễn Hữu Thiện.

Nghiên cứu đã đưa ra nhiều thông tin về ảnh hưởng môi trường của nhiệt điện than. Trong đó, chuyên gia sinh thái Nguyễn Hữu Thiện nghiên cứu sâu về nguy cơ đối với thủy sản ĐBSCL và ông có cuộc trao đổi với NNVN.

Thủy sản di cư

Vùng thủy sản quốc gia ở ĐBSCL có đặc điểm gì nổi trội cần chú ý, thưa ông?

Vùng thủy sản ĐBSCL quan trọng nhất là lưu vực các cửa sông đổ ra biển, gồm lưu vực sông và cả diện tích biển gần bờ vì đó là nơi sinh sống của nhiều loài thủy sản.

Bởi vì các loài thủy sản luôn di chuyển và sự di chuyển của thủy sản giữa sông với biển được xếp thành ba loại: Anadromous là các loài thủy sản sống phần lớn thời gian ở biển nhưng phải đi vào nước ngọt để sinh sản; Catadromous là các loài ngược lại, sống ở nước ngọt nhưng ra biển sinh sản; Potamodromous sống hoàn toàn trong nước ngọt nhưng phải di cư, thường là đường dài, trong hệ thống sông để sinh sản, tìm mồi, sinh sống. Tiếp tục đọc “Nhiệt điện than và nguy cơ với thủy sản”