From 13th to 17th March 2023, the project “Climate Protection through Sustainable Bioenergy Markets in Vietnam” (BEM) – GIZ Energy Promotion Program and Department of Electricity and Energy Renewable Energies (Ministry of Industry and Trade) are jointly organizing an exchange program on international experiences on the development of to learn and exchange bioenergy in Korea.

REALIZING THE POTENTIAL OF BIOENERGY

During the first few days, the delegation worked and exchanged views with some of Korea’s leading bioenergy experts. At the meeting, Mr. Nathan Moore, BEM/GIZ project leader, said that like South Korea, Vietnam has committed to climate change mitigation efforts to “achieve net-zero emissions by 2050”.

“At COP 26 in 2021, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also set a target: Vietnam will reduce methane emissions by 30% in all sectors by 2030. Vietnam’s bioenergy potential and its side effects are perfectly suited to achieve these goals,” said Nathan Moore.

The representative of the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy said the visit was an opportunity for the Vietnamese delegation to exchange views and gain experience with Korean experts and partners in the use of renewable energy sources, biomass and biogas, for the purpose of power generation and heat generation, contributes to securing the energy supply and at the same time fulfills the obligation to reduce greenhouse gases and protect the environment.

Information from the Vietnamese delegation revealed that the BEM/GIZ project in Vietnam was carried out from April 2019 to September 2023 with the aim of strengthening the conditions for sustainable use of biological resources block and gas for electricity and heat generation in Vietnam. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) via the International Climate Protection Initiative (IKI). The partner of the project in Vietnam is the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy (Ministry of Industry and Trade) in cooperation with the German Society for International Cooperation GIZ.

So far the project has achieved notable results such as: Development of a handbook for investment and development of biomass energy projects; Handbook on the environmental and social impact assessment of biomass power plants; policy dialogue through coordination of bilateral cooperation; Development of technical studies on funding mechanisms for electricity from biomass and biogas; education and training of trainees in the field of bioenergy; and more than 50 companies have received technical assistance on energy efficiency and energy conversion from coal to biomass.

KOREA “STRONG” INVESTMENT IN BIOENERGY

On the Korean side, Professor Lee Ho Kyu from Korea University presented the lecture “Overview of Bio Market in Korea: Legal Framework for Bioenergy Policy and Government Agencies in Korea.” Korea with the working group.

Professor Lee Ho Kyu said that the Korean government has funded a total of 464,276 million won (equivalent to 8,400 billion VND) for domestic biomass research activities in the past 5 years. That number continues to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.7%. With government funding, a total of 1,956 projects have been implemented in the past 5 years.

Most ministries are involved in bioenergy policy in Korea, including: Ministry of Science and Information Technology, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry, Agency for Agricultural Promotion, Ministry of Medium and Small Enterprises, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. However, the coordination of these ministries was not yet smooth, so bioenergy did not receive the same attention as other energy sources.

According to Professor Lee Ho Kyu, Korea is developing a bioenergy village model in which people in each village organize to collect animal waste and organic waste at a central location to generate electricity, and this electricity will meet local electricity needs in the village. This model will reduce the power transmission system – causing both large losses and requiring high grid infrastructure costs.

After Professor Lee Ho Kyu’s exchange, Professor Yoon Ji Woong – Special Adviser to the Korean Ministry of Science and Information Technology, Member of the Science and Technology Advisory Board of the President of the Republic of Korea – spoke and presented the presentation “Korea’s Carbon-Neutral Technology Innovation Strategy for Green Growth”.

Many topics were addressed in Prof. Yoon Ji Woong’s presentation: The context of carbon neutral green growth; Technological innovation and development of bioenergy infrastructure; Pros and cons of technologies used in green growth; Studying case studies from domestic and overseas projects in Korea.

Professor Yoon Ji Woong said that carbon-neutral technology innovation is a key task and the main role belongs to the private sector. Korea proposes a plan to select 100 core technologies for carbon neutrality.

In the short term (by 2030)/medium to long term (by 2050), technologies that can contribute to CO2 reduction are classified in order to set appropriate technology targets for each target period. From there, strengthen the carbon neutral value chain based on systematic technology depending on the characteristics of each area.

“From gathering opinions and needs of the private sector, the Korean government will develop plans and strategies in coordination between the state, scientific research institutions and the private sector, apply a regulatory system and allocate an integrated cross-sectoral budget, and consider strategic spending on carbon-neutral projects at the intersectoral level,” shared Prof. Yoon Ji Woong.