Vietnam needs $10 bln a year for energy development

"We need policies to mobilize all resources, domestic and foreign, for energy development," Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said Wednesday at the Vietnam Energy Summit 2020.

The government will amend laws on electricity, oil and gas as well as enact new regulations on renewable energy to develop specialized mechanisms encouraging investment in development of electricity generation and transmission systems, he said.

Nguyen Van Binh, head of the Party's Central Economic Commission, said it was crucial that Vietnam creates favorable conditions for private enterprises to invest in energy development, including transmission.

The main bottlenecks facing energy development in the country include high state monopoly, and inadequate application of market mechanisms, he added.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said contributions from other economic entities other than state-owned enterprises would allow energy goals to be reached much faster than planned.

Vietnam currently relies largely on hydropower and thermal power for its electricity needs, but its hydropower potential is almost fully exploited and oil and gas reserves are running low.

Coal-powered plants accounted for 36.1 percent of electricity supply last year, followed by hydropower at 30.8 percent, according to the Vietnam Energy Association.