Forum “Rooftop solar power for businesses: Solutions for transition and energy saving” organized by Business Forum Magazine in collaboration with Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation and Institute for Smart Energy Application Research (iSEAR).

On the afternoon of August 16, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) directed the Business Forum Magazine to coordinate with the Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation and the Institute for Smart Energy Application Research (iSEAR) to organize the Forum: “Rooftop solar power for businesses: Solutions for transition and energy saving”.

Attending the Forum were Mr. Vo Tan Thanh - Vice Chairman of VCCI; Mr. Ta Huy Hoang - Head of the Southern Representative Office of the Ministry of Construction; Mr. Pham Thanh Truc - Deputy Head of the Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones (HEPZA); Mr. Tran Ngoc Liem - Director of VCCI HCM; Mr. Vu Duc Giang - Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association; Mr. Tran Thien Long - Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Industrial Real Estate Association; Lieutenant Colonel Pham Thy Binh - Deputy Head of the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department of Ho Chi Minh City Police; Mr. Nguyen Quoc Viet - Deputy Director of the Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) - under the Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Dr. Cao Anh Tuan - Renewable Energy Expert; Mr. Nguyen Huu Khoa - Representative of Vietnam Energy Association; Dr. Tran Huynh Ngoc - Deputy Director of Training and Research Development Center - PECC2 (under EVN); Mr. Hoang Dinh Lan - Deputy Head of Business Department of Southern Power Corporation; Mr. Le Hong Khanh - Deputy Director of Binh Duong Power Company.

On the Organizing Committee's side, there were Journalist Pham Hung - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Business Forum Magazine, Head of Southern Office; Journalist Nguyen Tien Dung - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Business Forum Magazine; Mr. Phan Cong Tien - Director of the Institute for Smart Energy Application Research.

The Forum aims to gather opinions and propose solutions to implement the energy transition roadmap, deploy the use of green energy sources in production from rooftop solar power systems to help businesses soon reach the goal of greening and reducing carbon emissions in Vietnam.

Speaking at the Forum, VCCI Vice Chairman Vo Tan Thanh said that at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Summit in Scotland, UK (COP26), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pledged to reduce Vietnam's net emissions to "0" by 2050, participate in the Global Declaration on the transition of coal power to clean energy, and not build new coal power plants after 2030.

VCCI Vice Chairman Vo Tan Thanh spoke at the Forum.

According to VCCI Vice ChairmanVo Tan Thanh, looking back at two years of implementation, Vietnam has put forward a roadmap to strongly reduce greenhouse gas emissions through specific tasks in the Energy Sector Plan and renewable energy development policy.

Accordingly, the National Energy Sector Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, issued by the Government on July 26, 2023 (Power Plan VIII), has also proposed solutions and breakthroughs in developing renewable energy sources, setting a goal of striving for 50% of office buildings and 50% of houses by 2030 to install and use self-generated and self-consumed rooftop solar power. This type of off-grid power will be developed with unlimited capacity.

“This is a source of distributed solar power on site, with many advantages over other renewable energy sources, because it does not suffer losses during transmission and distribution over long distances, but also serves the needs of local loads. In particular, this will be an additional source of clean electricity to help reduce pressure on the transmission system and ensure a proactive power source for production and business enterprises,” said VCCI Vice ChairmanVo Tan Thanh.

To meet the needs of the economy and ensure energy security, Mr. Thanh said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has recently provided the latest updates to propose and complete the Draft Decree and regulations on encouraging the development of self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power to submit to the Government.

The Vice Chairman of VCCI also said that this preferential policy for the development and installation of rooftop solar power systems is the desire of all sectors, industries and businesses. Because using clean energy not only helps businesses reduce production and business costs, reduce carbon emissions, but also helps businesses maintain stable production during times of high load during the hot season.

"Not only that, as of May 2024, Vietnam has signed, implemented and is negotiating a total of 19 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Of these, 16 FTAs have been signed and implemented and 3 FTAs are under negotiation. These FTAs are effective with more than 60 partners covering all continents. This is a stepping stone to help Vietnam become one of the leading countries in the region in participating in bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation frameworks," said VCCI Vice Chairman Vo Tan Thanh.

The forum attracted a large number of businesses to attend

In addition to proactive solutions in implementing FTAs, the European Union (EU) market is focusing on promoting the implementation of the European Green Deal Strategy, with the goal of reducing net emissions by 55% by 2030 and moving towards the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The EU Green Deals are creating major changes for Vietnam's exports. Products such as textiles, electronics, information technology, agricultural products, and exported food, the EU will have to meet increasingly stringent requirements on energy efficiency, emission reduction, waste, and the use of recycled materials. Products including iron and steel, aluminum, and cement are also forecast to be most affected by the green transition in the EU market in the coming time.

“The above technical barriers show that in order to export and benefit from new generation FTAs, in addition to basic conditions such as rules of origin and quality standards, greening standards are also mandatory factors that businesses must meet. This is an important basis to help the Vietnamese business community own green certificates and get priority points when exporting to these major markets,” said VCCI Vice Chairman Vo Tan Thanh.

At the same time, he also said that although the Party and Government's policies are clear, businesses still face difficulties when investing and installing rooftop solar power systems due to the lack of specific regulations. Procedures and guidance documents from ministries and branches are not clear and consistent. Businesses wishing to install and use rooftop solar power are still stuck with many procedures, construction permits, environmental assessments, and regulations and guidance from relevant management agencies.

“The contributions and proposed solutions from agencies, experts and businesses at this Forum will be compiled and submitted to the Government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant sectors for development and completion, to soon promote the implementation of rooftop solar power installation, helping production and business enterprises to operate proactively, effectively and develop day by day”, affirmed VCCI Vice Chairman Vo Tan Thanh.