HCMC IPs fail to save energy

Industrial parks in HCM City have not fully exploited the vast potential that exists to save energy because of rundown infrastructure and the use of backward technology, experts said at a conference yesterday.

Duong Lan Huong, a scientist with the HCM City Energy Conservation Centre (EEC-HCMC), said the lighting system in the industrial parks consumed disproportionately high quantities of power.

During peak hours, electricity for lighting in the IPs accounted for up to 30 per cent of total consumption, while the rate in other countries was around 15 per cent.

“When faced with power shortages, 50 per cent of the lamps had to be turned off, which made it unsafe for traffic (within the IPs),” Huong said.

The centre, which organised the conference, has implemented a pilot project to upgrade the lighting system in the city’s Tan Binh and Tan Tao Industrial Parks, he informed the conference.

Statistics recorded one year after the systems were replaced with high-efficiency lamps and reflectors showed that the two parks saved 96,000kWh, a 50 per cent reduction in power consumed previously.

Huong said that the two parks were able to save VND105 million and reduce their carbon emissions by 41 tonnes in one year.

The project, carried out in collaboration with the city’s Department of Science and Technology, will be expanded to all industrial parks in the city, he added.

Enterprises operating inside the city’s industrial park were also using backward technology that consumed a lot of energy, the conference heard.

According to the EEC-HCMC, enterprises account for 40 per cent of the city’s power consumption.

Pham Huy Phong, another scientist with the centre responsible for conducting regular energy audits of enterprises, noted that there was a huge potential for energy savings in factories that should adopt better technology as well as energy-saving practices.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank, said that four commercial banks will participate in a programme to provide financial support to enterprises looking to upgrade their facilities to make them more energy efficient.

Nguyen Thuc Quyen of IFC said most enterprises in Viet Nam were not paying attention to climate change, seeing it as a phenomenon that apparently does not have any direct impact on their business operations.

Quyen also noted that energy consumed to make one unit of a product was the highest in Vietnamese factories compared to other countries in the region, including Mainland China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines.

The city administration has prioritised energy savings in both households as well as industrial parks as the dry season approaches.

The city currently faces an electricity shortfall of 2 million kWh everyday. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam electricity, Vietnam energy, Vietnam power shortage