Co-organised by the European Union (EU) and the Da Nang Energy Conservation Centre (DECC), the project, entitled "Development of Solar Energy in Da Nang" (DSED), will facilitate data collection, information sharing, awareness raising and training, while targeting policy makers, small and medium-sized enterprises and households in the development of solar energy.
Pilot projects for a limited number of households and five public facilities will also be installed, in addition to the upgrading of the DECC’s showroom to allow the centre to acquire modern equipment to demonstrate how solar photo-voltaic panels produce electricity from capturing free-of-charge energy from the sun, as well as net metering which connects the produced energy to the national distribution grid.
Speaking at the opening, Alejandro Montalban, Head of Cooperation Department under the EU Delegation said that Vietnam has huge potential in renewable energy resources; yet, limitations in the knowledge and awareness of the benefits and importance of renewable energy and energy efficiency is a barrier to the development of the sector. Therefore, the cooperation with DECC would accelerate the dissemination of solar technology knowledge in Da Nang, he added.
Co-funded by the EU and DECC, the EUR444,000 project will last for 40 months, until October 2020. The EU contribution represents more than 85% of the overall budget.
Within the project, the DECC will also cooperate with the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam, the Vietnam Standards and Quality Institute, the World Bank and the German Society for International Cooperation, who are also working on improving the overall framework in order to attract more investment in the solar energy sector.
According to the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology, the coastal city has great potential for developing solar power, ranking fifth among 16 provinces and cities nationwide with potential for environmental energy, with average hours of sunshine at 177 and the average radiation intensity at 4.89 kWh/m2/day.
Da Nang is also one of the leading localities in the research and application of environmental energy technologies, as well as drawing attention from investors in environmental energy projects.
In 2018, Da Nang will have its first solar power plant on an area of 6.7ha at the former Khanh Son landfill in Lien Chieu district. Invested in by the Bach Khoa Investment & Development of Solar Energy Corporation at VND112 billion, the plant will have a capacity of 4.4MWp.
Once operational, the plant will provide 7.7 million kWh per year to the city’s energy grid. At the same time, it will help to reduce emissions of 5,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. The project also has the relevant systems to collect surface runoff for reverse osmosis to underground water.
Source: Nhandan online