CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The DEPP3 has been sponsored by the Danish Government and its Component 3 on low-carbon development in the industrial sector, focusing on economical and efficient use of energy, has been led by the Department of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade.  

The workshop was held with the participation of Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoan - Deputy Director of Bac Giang Department of Industry and Trade; Mr. Hoang Van Tam - Deputy Head of Climate Change and Green Growth Office, Department of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade; Mr. Henrik Adler Nielsen - Special Advisor, Danish Ministry of Energy; Mr. Jørgen Hvid - Long-term Technical Advisor, DEPP3 Program; together with representatives of domestic consulting firms and more than 20 representatives of key industrial enterprises in Bac Giang province.

At the opening speech, Mr. Hoang Van Tam - Representative of the Department of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development talked about the implementation of the Voluntary Agreement Program (VAS) of the Department of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development, which will bring many benefits to businesses.

“In the today’s workshop, the support mechanisms along with the bilateral engagement in the implementation of the VAS will be introduced. At the same time, on basis of the VAS, a connection between enterprises and local energy management agencies, enterprises and financial institutions will be established, thereby creating energy efficiency investment market as well as promoting energy efficiency projects in the industrial sector in the future”, Mr. Hoang Van Tam said.

On behalf of the Department of Industry and Trade of Bac Giang province, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoan - Deputy Director said that there were then over 90 key enterprises in the province, in which, many enterprises have carried out energy efficiency as well as sustainable development solutions. With a high density of industrial parks, the provincial leaders were very interested in energy efficiency, thereby gradually taking action to promote energy efficiency in enterprises.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoan also said: “After today's workshop, a number of businesses in the province will be selected to coordinate with the Department of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development and experts in free energy audits. This will not only help enterprises to save money from hiring a consulting firm on their own but provide them with appropriate energy efficiency project development based on the detailed energy audits as well”.  

In the workshop, Mr. Jongen Hvid - Long-term Technical Advisor of the DEPP3 also introduced the Program on Building and Piloting the Voluntary Agreement Program (VAS) for Increasing Energy Efficiency in Industry. According to Mr. Jongen Hvid, businesses participating in the VAS Program will be entitled to enjoy technical support such as energy audit, pre-feasibility study, feasibility studies and energy efficiency investment project development to have access to bank loans and prepare for financial records with a view to getting green finance or climate finance.

The overall goal of the VAS is to promote investment in energy efficiency in key energy-using industries in Vietnam. Businesses joining the VAS will be supported in the development of investment projects in economical and efficient use of energy. At the same time, they will be open to commercial funding for their project implementation, technical support to carry out energy audit, pre-feasibility study, feasibility study and energy efficiency investment project development. 

Signing the voluntary mechanism and complying with the requirements in the VAS, enterprises will enjoy many incentives, such as on energy efficiency measure development on the basis of their existing energy audit reports, feasibility study (if necessary) and on-site energy efficiency solution. In addition, first energy audit, simple EMS establishment, reporting planning appropriate to the VAS, technical assistance to access commercial finance for energy efficiency projects through the development of loanable energy efficiency investment project and capacity building to access technology guidance, access to climate finance for energy efficiency projects and comply with reporting requirements under the Environmental Conservation Law protection for key energy users are advantages that enterprises take from the VAS as well. 

At the end of the workshop, businesses’ concerns about the VAS were explained, thereby giving businesses detailed information on orientation and benefits of energy efficiency projects. 

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