Which renewable energy source depends on changing water levels

Khanh Hoa province, on the south-central coast, has recently been leading the way in attaining attraction from both domestic and foreign financiers when it comes to the gas and electricity sector. Among the suitors is one from the United States, proposing the Millennium gas power project with a forecast capacity of 14,400MW and 17 million tonnes of storage for liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year. Joining in are Embark United Co., Ltd. and US Quantum Corporation to establish a 6,000MW gas power venture and a port warehouse to receive and process six million tonnes of LNG per year. Japanese investors did also not ignore the opportunity to develop gas power projects in Khanh Hoa, as Sumitomo Corporation proposed to invest in a 3,000MW gas power scheme and a storage system for three million tonnes of LNG per year, while J-Power Co., Ltd. wants to invest in a gas turbine power project with a capacity of 3,000MW. Despite a slightly slower approach, the province is also seeing the presence of more domestic investors, led by Electricity of Vietnam which proposed a 6,000MW gas power project, while Petrolimex wants to build a warehouse for around three million tonnes of LNG per year. Those involved in the gas power sector all understand that developing such a project in Vietnam is a difficult task, as the country is still in the process of building its Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8). Nevertheless, the total installed capacity of power sources by 2030 is supposed to reach 137.2GW, of which gas accounts for 21 per cent. Tran Ky Phuc, director of the Institute of Energy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) – the unit in charge of building the PDP8 – said that electricity demand in this plan is calculated lower than in the revised PDP7, reducing the forecast amount by 3-4 billion kWh in 2020 and 9-10 billion kWh in 2030. Realistic needs The development of gas power sources in Vietnam is the result of the exhaustion of fossil fuels, the …

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The proportion of solar and wind power projects in the entire national electricity system is expected to increase, requiring thorough preparation because of the instability of these power sources, experts have said. The draft of the eighth national power development plan shows majir changes in power source development from now to 2030 compared with the seventh plan. Under the draft, Vietnam will develop wind and solar power on a large scale, with the capacity of wind power increasing by three times and solar power by two times compared with the adjusted seventh plan. Vietnam will only continue the projects under construction or under investment promotion, to be operational in the 2021-2025 period. The coal-fired thermopower proportion will decrease gradually from 34 percent in 2020 to 27 percent by 2030. The Ministry of Investment and Trade wants to strongly develop gas-fired power with capacity increasing from 7GW in 2020 to 13.5GW by 2025 and 28-33GW by 2030 and the proportion of gas-fired power increasing from 15 percent in 2020 to 21-23 percent by 2030. The wind power capacity would rise from 600MW in 2020 to 11,000-12,000MW by 2025 and 18,000-19,000MW by 2030. Wind power would account for 11 percent of total installation capacity by 2025 and 13 percent by 2030. As for solar power, the capacity would increase from 17,000MW in 2020-2025 to 19,000-20,000MW by 2030. The proportion of solar power would be 17 percent of total installation capacity by 2025 and 14 percent by 2030. Wind and solar power would also be strongly developed in 2031-2045, accounting for 42 percent by 2045. However, because of the high uncertainty, the strong development of these power sources will have a major impact on the national electricity system. The ministry believes that as the electricity generation capacity of the sources of power can change rapidly, wind power will cause considerable fluctuations to the electricity system when the wind changes or stops. …

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The survey notes that the global economy contracted by around 4.5 percent in 2020, the biggest fall in global activity in several decades. Having recovered from lockdown-imposed weakness in the first half of the year, many economies again faced weakness as a second wave of COVID infections triggered renewed lockdowns. The survey envisions a steady recovery this year, but continued uncertainty limits the bounce in consumer and busines confidence, with pre-crisis output not being reached until mid-2022. The survey also indicates that the Global orders, employment and capital investment indices recorded a further modest improvement, but still point to activity well below the pre-crisis level in the fourth quarter of 2019. The “fear” indices which means the concern about customers and suppliers going out of business, edged lower in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 but remain elevated, clearly underlining the extreme uncertainty in the global economic outlook at the start of 2021. At the same time, inflation concerns remain negligible with concern about costs staying close to an all-time low. “Last year was the worst for the global economy for several decades,” said Warner Johnston, Head of ACCA USA. “2021 will see recovery, but precisely when and how strong it will be is very uncertain. We anticipate a weak start, followed by a recovery gathering momentum through the second half. Much depends on the evolution of the COVID virus and variants relative to the progress of vaccination programs, and there is great uncertainty surrounding these developments.” Agreed with this points, Raef Lawson, IMA vice president of research and policy analysed the policy responses to the pandemic that have left public finances of most economies in a perilous state with budget deficits in the range of 10 percent to 15 percent of GDP in many countries with debt to GDP ratios well over 100 percent. In North America, confidence dropped in Q4, having jumped by the most on record in Q3. …

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