US funds advanced energy storage project in central Vietnam

The U.S. Consulate General in HCMC has granted $2.96 million to a local firm for implementing a battery energy storage pilot project in central Vietnam.

The project, called Battery Energy Storage System Pilot Project, will « use cutting-edge American technology and equipment to demonstrate how advanced energy storage can reduce power losses and help Vietnam integrate greater renewable energy into its power system, » the consulate said in a statement Friday.

The company chosen to implement the project is AMI AC Renewables, a joint venture between AMI Renewables of Vietnam and AC Energy of the Philippines.

The project follows a 2018 study funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to Vietnam Electricity (EVN), Vietnam’s state-owned power company, to examine the feasibility of deploying advanced energy storage technologies in Vietnam.

It will be built and integrated into a 50 MW solar farm operated by AMI AC Renewables in central Khanh Hoa Province’s Cam Lam District, the aim being to demonstrate how it can reduce power losses and help Vietnam integrate more renewable energy into the nation’s power system.

« Energy storage is the key to unlock the potential of renewables and is a vital component of the energy transition, » said Patrice Clausse, chief operating officer of AC Energy International and chairman of the AMI AC Renewables board of directors.

Signing the grant during the U.S.-Vietnam Energy Security Dialogue in Hanoi Friday, Marie C. Damour, Chargé d’Affaires for the U.S. Mission to Vietnam, said the project « will show how cutting-edge U.S. energy storage technology can advance the goals of expanding renewable energy generation and reducing reliance on coal in Vietnam, and accelerate Vietnam’s transition to a clean energy economy for a climate-resilient future. »

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had said in a video sent to the Russian Energy Week International Forum Thursday that Vietnam was building a roadmap to transform energy sources towards sustainable development, adapting to climate change, reducing carbon emissions, increasing efficiency and saving energy.

Vietnam would diversify its energy sources, focusing on developing clean and renewable energy via wind power, solar power, biomass power, waste to energy power, aiming to increase the share of clean energy to at least 20 percent of primary energy supply by 2030 and 30 percent by 2045, he said.

By Minh Nga – VnExpress.net – October 16, 2021