With the industrialization and the spread of various domestic electrical appliances, Vietnamese electric power consumption has been increasing year by year.  Electric power consumption per capita began to gradually increase in the 1990s and this trend became even stronger after 2000, reaching 1423 kWh in 2014 (see the Figure below)[1].  When compared to other Southeast Asian countries, Vietnamese electric consumption is still lower than Malaysia and Thailand where economic growth and industrialization progressed more rapidly. However, Vietnamese overtook Indonesia and the Philippines around 2005, and its electric power consumption has continued to expand rapidly. In addition to this rapidly increased electric power consumption, the emergence of the issue of global climate change has promoted discussion on efficient use of energy since the early 2000s.

 Electricity consumption per capita in Vietnam (unit: 1000 kWh/person)

In 2006, the Prime Minister’s Decision approving the national target program on economical and efficient use of energy (No. 79/2006/QD-TTg) was promulgated. This Decision set specific targets in energy conservation. To achieve these targets, since 2010 various regulations on energy conservation have been promulgated, formulating a legislative system in the field. It should be noted that the Japanese government has contributed to the establishment of such legislative system for energy saving.

Then, the Prime Minister’s Decision on Approval of National Targeted Program on Energy Efficiency and Conservation Phase 2012 – 2015 (No. 1427/QD-TTg) was promulgated on October 2, 2012 for further energy conservation. This Decision stated that the Vietnam National Energy Efficiency Program (VNEEP), which were to be implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), would lead various energy-related sectors to improve energy efficiency nationwide. Specifically, VNEEP targeted strengthening of public relations, dissemination of energy saving measures to the public and businesses, reduction of energy consumption and increase of awareness for environmental protection, and reduction of the state energy consumption by 5 to 8% (11 to 17 million tons oil equivalent) from 2012 to 2015. The Program’s main target sectors were manufacturing, construction, transportation, service, and household. The Program aimed to promote energy saving products and energy conservation measures in these sectors.

In March 2019, the Decision on approval of the National Energy Efficiency Programme for the period of 2019-2030 (VNEEP3) (No. 280/QĐ-TTg) was promulgated for further energy saving in the future. The Decision has set specific targets, including: to save 5.0–7.0% of the national energy consumption in the period of 2019- 2025; to reduce power loss to less than 6.5%; and to set specific energy saving targets for major energy consuming industries for the period from 2019 to 2025. The Program has been rolled out throughout the country, with an expected total expenditure of 4.4 trillion dong (about 20.2 billion yen). The budget sources are: 600 billion dong from non-profit funds, 1.6 trillion dong from grant aids, and 2.2 trillion dong from ODA loans/preferential loans. The Program comprehensively covers areas for achieving the set targets. It includes the following nine measures.

  1. Reviewing, developing, and finalizing mechanisms and policies on economical and efficient use of energy
  2. Providing technical and financial assistance to promote business, production and investment projects on economical and efficient use of energy for diverse activities: producing, manufacturing, renovating, as well as transitioning to energy efficient equipment, machinery, production lines, public lighting, or household appliances.
  3. Building Vietnam energy data center, databases, application of information technology on energy and economical and efficient use of energy
  4. Enhancing capacity for economical and efficient use of energy
  5. Strengthening inspection and supervision, forcing and guiding the implementation and evaluation of the results of adoption of legal regulations on economical and efficient use of energy
  6. Communication to raise community awareness about economical and efficient use of energy
  7. Strengthening international relations and cooperation in the field of economical and efficient use of energy
  8. Advancing scientific research and technological development on economical and efficient use of energy
  9. Establishing funds to promote economical and efficient use of energy

 The Vietnamese key legislation for energy conservation can be summarized as below. The particularly important Laws and regulations are: the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy (No. 50/2010/QH12, hereinafter “the Law” or “the Law on Energy Efficiency and Conservation”) and the Decree detailing the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy and measures for its implementation (No. 21/2011/ND-CP), a direct subordinate regulation of the Law. These have been a basis for energy efficiency regulation in Vietnam.

The Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy (No. 50/2010/QH12), which was established in 2010, plays a core role in energy conservation in the country. The Law is operated by MOIT. In the course of the establishment of the Law, Japanese government provided an important contribution. Specifically, responding to a request by Vietnamese government, Japanese energy experts the Energy Conservation Center, Japan (ECCJ) were sent to Vietnam and Vietnamese officials were invited to Japan for education and training. Though MOIT referred to energy policies of different developed countries and ASEAN countries, the Law is based mainly on Japanese energy policy.

The Laws consists of 48 articles in 12 chapters, as shown in the Table below.

Table: Structure of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy

Chapter Title
1 General provisions
2 Economical and efficient use of energy in industrial production
3 Economical and efficient use of energy in construction and public lighting
4 Economical and efficient use of energy in transport
5 Economical and efficient use of energy in agricultural production
6 Economical and efficient use of energy in service provision and households
7 Economical and efficient use of energy in state-funded investment projects and agencies and units
8 Management of energy use by major users
9 Management of energy-consuming devices and equipment
10 Measures to promote economical and efficient use of energy
11 State management responsibilities for economical and efficient use of energy
12 Implementation provisions

The above-mentioned Law provides a framework of the country’s energy efficiency management scheme. For detailed rules for implementation of the Law, subordinate legislation should be referred to.  The directly subordinate legislation of the Law is the Decree detailing the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy and measures for its implementation (No. 21/2011/ND-CP). This Decree was established on March 29, 2011, a subsequent year of the promulgation of the Law. The Decree was built on the following six pillars.

  1. Statistical indicators on energy use
  2. Major energy users
  3. Economical and efficient use of energy in state budget-funded agencies and units
  4. Energy labeling for energy-consuming devices and equipment
  5. Measures to promote economical and efficient use of energy
  6. Examination and Inspection of Economical And Efficient Use of Energy

The “major energy users” mentioned in item (2) are establishments that fall under any of the followings (Article 6):

  1. Industrial and agricultural production establishments and transport units which annually consume energy of a total of one thousand tons of oil equivalent (1,000 TOE) or higher
  2. Construction works used as offices and houses; educational, medical, entertainment, physical training and sports establishments; hotels, supermarkets, restaurants and shops which annually consume energy of a total of five hundred tons of oil equivalent (500 TOE) or higher.

According to data published by the Vietnamese government in 2013, there are 1720 major energy user sites in the country. As shown in the below Figure, the geographical distribution of the users are: Ho Chi Minh City (241 sites), Binh Duong Province (178 sites), Hanoi City (176 sites), Dong Nai Province (106 sites), Quang Ninh Province (98 sites).  On the other hand, there are no major energy users in Bac Kan, Ninh Thuan, Dak Nong and Bac Lieu provinces.

Figure Top 5 cities / provinces by number of major energy users in Vietnam

The tasks of “energy manager” stipulated in the above (3), who plays a key role in energy efficiency management in a facility, are stipulated in the Law (Article 35) as follows:

  • Elaborating annual and five-year plans on economical and efficient use of energy
  • Organizing energy use management networks; applying energy management models
  • Taking measures for economical and efficient use of energy under approved objectives and plans
  • Examining and evaluating the application of measures for economical and efficient use of energy
  • Monitoring energy consumption of equipment and the entire production line, controlling changes in energy consumption demands related to the installation, upgrading and repair of energy consuming equipment, making regular reports under regulations
  • Organizing information work and training in energy use.

On the other hand, regarding product energy-saving label scheme, this Decree sets: two types of energy-saving labels (certification label and comparative label), energy yield testing laboratories, reporting by manufacturers of energy-consuming devices and equipment, reporting by importers of energy-consuming devices and equipment, and termination of energy labeling and withdrawal of energy label certificates. The detailed rules for implementing the Decree are stipulate in the Circular on Energy Labeling for Means and Equipment Using Energy Under Management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (No. 36/2016 / TT-BCT).

 

Overview of energy conservation legislation in Vietnam

The below list illustrates the key energy conservation laws and regulations in Vietnam. Particularly important laws and regulations are the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy (No. 50/2010/QH12) and the Decree detailing the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy and measures for its implementation (No. 21/2011/ND-CP), which is a direct subordinate legislation of the Law. These provide a basis for energy efficiency regulation in Vietnam.

  • Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy (No. 50/2010/QH12)
    A fundamental energy conservation law in Vietnam. It governs the state energy management in general. The Law was established based on Japanese energy efficiency scheme.

    • Decree detailing the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy and measures for its implementation (No. 21/2011/ND-CP)
      Subordinate legislation of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy. It covers energy efficiency management in factories and business sites as well as energy efficiency criteria for products.

      • Energy saving at facilities
        • Circular on training, certified energy managers and energy auditors (No. 39/2011/TT-BCT)
        • Circular on elaboration of plans, report on implementation of plans on economical and efficient energy use; implementation of energy audit (No. 09/2012/TT-BCT)
        • Circular on solutions for economical and efficient use of energy in industries (No. 02/2014/TT-BCT)
      • Energy saving in products
        • Circular on Energy Labeling for Means and Equipment Using Energy Under Management Of The Ministry Of Industry And Trade (No. 36/2016/Tt-Bct)
        • Decision on the list of equipment and appliances to which the mandatory energy labeling and minimum energy efficiency standards are applied, and the roadmap to their implementation (No. 04/2017/QD-TTg)
        • Joint circular on regulation on energy labelling for the types of automobile from 07 seats or less (No. 43/2014/TTLT-BGTVT-BCT)
        • Circular on guidelines for energy labelling for passenger cars with 7 – 9 seats. (No. 40/2017/TT-BGTVT)
        • Circular Guiding Energy Labeling for Motorcycles, Mopeds Manufacturing, Assembling and Importing Issued by the Minister of Transport (No. 59/2018/TT-BGTVT)
        • MOIT Decision on the issuance of energy label samples for motorbikes (No.1500/QĐ-BC).

 

[1] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.ELEC.KH.PC?end=2014&locations=VN&start=1971