Australia and Vietnam

are neighbours and peers, facing the same regional challenges
and sharing the same aspirations for sustainable, secure, and fair electricity services as the basis of prosperity and economic growth.  

Our power sectors:

  • share many legacy issues on how energy is generated and transmitted;  

  • are blessed with high renewable energy (RE) potential and some of the fastest rates of RE deployment in the region; 

  • and are undertaking (or have recently undertaken) major structural reforms to the markets, governance arrangements and infrastructure that underpin the sector to take advantage of the opportunity presented by a sustainable energy transition. 

Future Electricity
of Vietnam
(FE-V)

Future Electricity of Vietnam (FE-V) is a science-to-policy program comprised of policy dialogues to leverage the Australian experience in the energy transition to support Vietnam in exploring practical and feasible interventions for a decarbonised, reliable and affordable power system. 

 

Recognising 50 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Vietnam, FE-V is an initiative of the Australian Embassy in Hanoi, bringing Australian and Vietnamese experts together to share experiences and to co-develop knowledge products of prioritised topics relating to six main dimensions of the power sector (generation, fuels, consumption, grid, market and planning) with support of the Central Economic Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CEC). 

Strategic partner

FE-V is delivered by Australia’s Partnerships for Infrastructure (P4I) and the Australia - Mekong Partnership for Environmental Resources & Energy Systems (AMPERES) together with the Australian National University (ANU), Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Ernst & Young and The Asia Foundation. 

Technical partners

Vietnam’s energy system has been…

The backbone of the nation’s development trajectory

An essential ingredient for social wellbeing and prosperity

A critical input for Vietnam’s rapidly industrialising economy

Increasingly, it is also a driver of…

environmental change.

Politburo’s Resolution 55-NQ/TW on the Orientation of Viet Nam’s National Energy Development Strategy to 2030 and Outlook to 2045 (Res. 55) establishes an orientation for the power sector framed by the dilemma of energy security and electricity affordability. 

Vietnam, recognising its high levels of vulnerability to climate change, has elevated the importance of climate response through its commitments in the international arena.

Meeting these climate commitments and maintaining momentum in the deployment of RE will require a transformation in how Vietnam’s energy sector sets priorities and delivers development in the energy sector.   

Drawing on Australia’s Finkel Review, FE-V explores practical ways in which Vietnam’s energy dilemma can be expanded to the trilemma of security, affordability, and sustainability.

Establishing a clear environmental objective for the development of the energy sector will provide a formal basis to embed the Government’s net zero commitments into the dynamic ecosystem of policy, regulatory and planning instruments.

FE-V takes a systems approach to explore decarbonised futures for all aspects of the Vietnamese power system. 

  • Explores the potential for transforming the generation mix in Vietnam in line with the country’s net zero commitments and looking to exploit domestic low-carbon energy resources for national energy security and economic growth.

  • Explores the potential for hydrogen and natural gas to support an energy transition as dispatchable, firming capacity for Variable Renewable Energy (RE).

  • Explores the existing and growing issues facing transmission and distribution infrastructure (e.g., grid congestion, curtailment, the role of the private sector, changing geographies of power flow) as well as introducing new ideas and possibilities for distributed network design (such as virtual power plants, microgrids, stand-alone power systems).

  • Explores the potential to reduce Vietnam’s national GHG emissions through electrification of loads, energy efficiency, deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs, for example roof-top-solar) and other demand side management interventions. It will also consider the implications of a renewable energy transition on the affordability and sustainability of electricity tariffs.

  • Explores the progress and evolution of reforms of the Vietnamese electricity market towards a competitive retail market. It includes mechanisms and options to accelerate the development of competitive electricity markets issues of regulation, tariff price setting, electricity affordability, power purchase agreements, competitive markets for electricity service assets and to expand beyond energy-only markets to include the markets for other services (e.g., ancillary or capacity services).

  • Critically review the current power development planning process in Vietnam and identify whether it is fit-for-purpose for the new, but growing, energy transition issues in Vietnam. The team will then identify opportunities for reforming the process that adapt elements of the integrated systems planning (ISP) process to suit Vietnam’s context – in particular spatial and economic planning approaches such as Renewable Energy Zones (REZs).

Knowledge products

Discussion Papers

FE-V identified more than 30 strategic energy transition issues facing Vietnam’s power sector. The team then reviewed and documented the Australian experience managing these issues to distil a set of learnings and recommendations for Vietnam. 

Future Generation

Future Fuels

Future Demand

Future Grids

Future Markets

Policy note

Drawing on the lessons documented in the Discussion Papers, the Policy note provides concrete recommendations to Vietnamese stakeholders to reform the national energy orientation in line with the challenges and opportunities presented by energy transition. 

Weekly newsletter

Each week, FE-V reviews English and Vietnamese language news articles about energy issues and energy transition in Vietnam.
Contact us to receive the digest by email. Please kindly note that the newsletter should be in English.

Activities & timeline

FE-V
Phase 1

November 2022 - August 2023

The start of FE-V

November 2022

The initial meeting between strategic partners to discuss details, and agree on outputs and timelines.

Energy Transition Working Group meetings

March - May 2023

Technical group meetings were conducted in Hanoi to discuss on the five energy themes.

Energy Transition Policy Dialogue

This high-level Policy Dialogue was a common place for leading Australian and Vietnamese policy-makers, officials and researchers to exchange each country's knowledge, insights and experience in the energy transition.

Technical Deep-dive Roundtable

Technical group meetings were conducted in Hanoi to discuss on the five energy themes.

The Third Energy
Working Group Meeting
Phase 2 Kick-off

June 5, 2023

June 6, 2023

November 2023 - August 2024

November 2, 2023

FE-V Team and key Vietnamese stakeholders on energy transition met to discuss the six energy themes and future pathways for FE-V Phase 2.

Technical meetings

A serie of intensive technical meetings between theme leaders and their Vietnamese counterparts to conduct the six peer-reviewed Collaborative Research Reports.

Energy Transition Study Tour

The Study Tour paves the way for peer-to-peer lesson sharing between Australia and Vietnam on power system flexibility.

Vietnam State of Energy Transion (VSET)

November 2023 - May 2024

April - May 2024

July - September 2024

A high-level technical symposium on Energy Transition. The symposium could become an annual opportunity for CEC to take stock of progress made in implementing PDP 8 and Vietnam’s energy transition commitments with a technical co-chair from the Australian Government. The Conference will provide an opportunity for government, private sector and academia to present findings and insight from their energy transition activities in Vietnam and to discuss strategies to accelerate energy implementation and effectively deliver PDP 8 implementation.

aims to establish cooperation with the Economic Commission of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party (CEC) and seeks to support high-level reform in the orientation of national energy development towards reliable, affordable decarbonisation.

Summary Report for Energy Transition Policy Dialogue

FE-V
Phase 2

aims to broaden and deepen peer-to-peer technical exchange among key government line agencies and research institutions, under the five thematic dimensions to help chart a clear, ambitious and practical energy transition pathway that supports Vietnamese government agencies implement the 8th National Power Development Plan (PDP8).

2024 January FE-V’s Mission to the power counterparts in Hanoi.

Contact us.

FE-V Focal point:

Loan Luong (Ms.)

Email: info@amperes.com.au