Tang The Cuong, Director General of the Department of Climate Change, speaks at the webinar. (Photo: VNA) Speaking at the webinar, Pana Janviroj, Executive Director of the ANN, whomoderated the event, said: "[Renewable energy] is the topic that we willkeep going back to in Asia in the near future.
"It’s a growth area that has a big impact on climate change, but many issuesremain including consumers being confident in adapting to solar energy."
Harald Link, Chairman of B. Grimm Power Pel based in Thailand, said the widedevelopment of clean energy spurs innovation and this offers many insights andmodels for Asian countries to consider.
“Renewable energy is really the new norm now. Wherever you go, everybody'sinterested in renewable energy and in the different forms, whether it's wind,water, sun, biofuels, and even waves.”
“There are a lot of innovations happening nowadays so we can look at thepeer-to-peer renewable energy in various countries in Europe.”
“The development of renewable energy needs good regulations. It is important toorganise an ecosystem of renewable energy sales,” he said, noting mechanismssuch as FiT and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
Link is hopeful about the prospect of renewable energy development.
There is a huge ecosystem for renewable energy already in the world and therewill be more.
“There are huge opportunities for renewable energy and it will continue for thenext few decades,” Link said.
"Energy trading is prevalent in Thailand, which allows us to join widernetworks and transmit power from one country to another and getconnected," he added.
“The sky is the limit. Every country may have their own way of doing and it isgood that we can learn from many others,” he said.
Frank Phuan, CEO of SUNSEAP Group Pte company based in Singapore, also sharedinsights about renewable energy development in Singapore.
Noting that more than 95 percent of Singapore's electricity is powered bynatural gas, Phuan said the country’s zero-emission target is an ambitious onegiven that it is a small country.
“It has to depend on technology and policy as well as work with neighouringcountries to allow zero-emissions to happen,” he said.
Due to land constraints, solar PV systems have been installed on rooftops allover the country as well as on water, Phuan said, noting that 50 percent ofgovernment buildings are covered by solar panels.
The government also allows clean energy piped into Singapore, allowing theimport of up to 4GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035.
Phuan said he has witnessed both good and bad trends in clean energydevelopment in the region, adding that “good is more than bad”.
“There is a trend of large-scale hybrid solar and battery combination,” hesaid.
The gigawatt-scale projects spur the development of all forms of battery, andmore development will come in the form of long-duration of power storage, hesaid.
He noted that there are many opportunities looking at these large-scale hybridsolar projects.
He emphasised the development of floating solar in hydro dams as well as theimplementation of solar-integrated agriculture, notably in China and Taiwan.
Phuan highlighted the need to strengthen the private and government partnershipas well as measures to tackle distribution capacity issues.
Meanwhile, Anil Sood, President of India’s Chetna, expressed his concerns aboutthe economic impacts of overloaded transmission networks and environmentalconsequences if a large number of batteries are not treated properly.
"While we go for green energy, it is important not to lose sight of how tosolve shelf-life problems," he said.
An overview of the webinar "Asia: Renewable Energy Continent."
Vietnam's efforts acclaimed
Hideki Minamikawa, President of the Japan Environmental Sanitation Center, andformer Vice Minister of the Environment, highlighted Vietnam’s commitments toachieve zero emissions by 2050, shared experience from Japan and stressed thecooperation between the two countries in renewable energy.
“The Vietnamese Government's efforts to address climate change have receivedinternational acclaim,” he said.
To achieve virtually zero emissions by 2050, Minamikawa said, Vietnam will takestrong measures to reduce emissions by taking advantage of its strengths in therenewable energy sector.
Sharing the Japanese approach to clean energy, Minamikawa said Japan'scommitment to renewable energy began in 1974, triggered by the first oil crisisthat occurred the previous year.
The country has had a number of policies to increase energy from clean sourcesincluding those from solar, wind, hydrogen and biomass.
However, Japan's current renewable energy development is not sufficient andthere are challenges with regard to the power grid.
He said the biggest bottleneck is the inadequate deployment of transmissionlines from areas with large amounts of renewable energy generation potential tolarge consumption areas, and the costs are borne by the power producers, notthe power companies.
Still, renewable energy is the backbone of power generation in Japan, he said,noting that it is expected to provide up to 38 percent of Japan's total powergeneration in 2030.
He noted that the Japanese government is supporting the development ofrenewable energy overseas as a measure to combat global warming.
Japan has been promoting environmental cooperation in Vietnam, includingcooperation in the development of renewable energy, through a memorandum ofunderstanding signed in 2013.
He recalled that in 2020 the two countries agreed to further cooperate inpromoting a decarbonisation transition and in combating plastic marinepollution.
“In this context, the development of renewable energy is the most importantsubject, and I look forward to its further enhancement,” he said./.
VNA
