The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) held a forum in Hanoi on December 22 on energy security for sustainable development.

Deputy head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Duc Hien said ensuring energy security is a consistent goal of the national energy development strategy, adding that the Politburo’s Resolution No 55-NQ/TW dated February 11, 2020 set the target of ensuring national energy security, providing stable and high-quality energy at reasonable cost for rapid and sustainable socio-economic development, ensuring national defence-security, and contributing to protecting the environment.

Ensuring national energy security is an important premise for the country's socio-economic development, he stressed.

Nguyen Van Vy from the Vietnam Energy Association said total electricity capacity now exceeds 60,000MW, which could meet demand for additional charge with the largest capacity of more than 41,000MW.

Power shortages are likely, however, due to a lack of rainfall and coal exploitation facing difficulties.

Vietnam has been an energy importer since 2015 and this is forecast to continue in the long term, according to the MoIT.
Deputy head of the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority Nguyen Tuan Anh highlighted the need to amend the Electricity Law to attract more social investment capital and develop the power market, as well as to outline the Law on Renewable Energy to create a solid legal corridor for investment and management in the field.

Vy also suggested linking national grids with regional countries and developing a large-scale energy storage system.