“Smart Grid Week Vietnam 2019” held in Hanoi on December 2-5 under the support of the government of Germany aims to demonstrate the digitalization and flexibility of the power system for increased integration of renewable energy.

Smart Grid Week Vietnam 2019 takes place in Hanoi Dec 2-5. Photo: GIZ

Government officials, national and international professionals, and partners, as well as associations, discuss trends and vision for a future sustainable power system of Vietnam at a series of conferences and workshops.

Stakeholders recommend smart energy solutions that enable high shares of renewable energy and energy efficiency and showcase innovative emerging technologies and applications for the power system of the future.

Hosted by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT)’s Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (ERAV) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Vietnam, the event is part of the four-year Smart Grids for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SGREEE) Project which began in 2017.

ERAV’s Director General Nguyen Anh Tuan. Photo: GIZ

According to ERAV’s Director General Nguyen Anh Tuan, developing a smart grid is the right decision of Vietnam and after nearly seven  years of implementation and step-by-step application of state-of-art technologies, the quality and reliability of the power supply have been improved.

The application of smart grid technologies is one of the effective solutions to integrate and operate new and renewable energy sources stably and smoothly and promote the share of renewable energy, thereby contributing to environmental protection, national energy security, and sustainable development.

Dr. Sebastian Paust, Head of Development Cooperation of the German Embassy in Vietnam. Photo: GIZ

Addressing the multi-stakeholder event, Dr. Sebastian Paust, Head of Development Cooperation of the German Embassy in Vietnam, said “Vietnam showed impressive growth in the share of renewable energies in the electricity production this year. However, to come to higher shares of renewables, a lot of measures have to be undertaken, especially to support the grid integration of solar and wind energy.”

As nearly half of the electricity in Germany comes from renewable sources, mostly from wind and solar energy. Germany would like to give a chance to exchange international experiences in measures and solutions to also support higher shares of solar and wind energy in Vietnam, he noted.

Ingmar Stelter, Direct GIZ/MOIT Energy Support Program. Photo: GIZ

Tobias Cossen, GIZ’s Project Director, said: “In order to position the topic of Smart Grids within the attention of all relevant stakeholders, including high-level government actors, it is important to have Smart Grid specific events and an exchange platform.”

The Smart Grid Week with many inputs both from international and national experts on different aspects of smart grids will connect all relevant stakeholders from the public and private sector and push the topic further on the political agenda, he emphasized.

The four-day event covers different topics namely “Power System Innovation Day”, “Smart Grid Symposium Vietnam”, and “Future Lab: Internet of Energy”.

Accordingly, the event addresses operating a power system with high shares of renewable energy and; smart energy solutions: innovations and concepts for the energy system of the future; flexibility options for high shares of renewable energy; impact of renewable energy on the power system; enabling a smart grid with regulative frameworks; and vision for the power system of the future with identified challenges of the Vietnamese energy system and solutions.