VietNamNet Bridge - An international conference titled “Solar Industry: From Manufacturing to Effective Exploitation 2008″ opened in HCM City yesterday with the presense of Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai.

Solar-energy cookers.

VietNamNet Bridge - An international conference titled “Solar Industry: From Manufacturing to Effective Exploitation 2008″ opened in HCM City yesterday with the presense of Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai.

The two-day conference focuses on how Viet Nam can take advantage of the development of the solar industry worldwide and how solar power can be effectively used here and abroad.

Over 10 international companies and universities and 80 participants from local energy companies, institutes and officials from the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Industry and Trade, and Science and Technology are taking part in the conference, billed as a good opportunity to establish bilateral co-operation between international energy companies and local partners.

Viet Nam has great potential as both a consumer and a source of solar power, said Trinh Quang Dung, head of Solarlab-Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology.

Rapid economic growth has led to a 15-20 per cent energy shortage per year. Exploring the promises of solar energy is an essential and long-term strategy for the Government to address this. That building up the sector in Viet Nam has drawn attention from local investors and overseas companies comes as no surprise.

The principal domestic partners in solar energy development are Solarlab, IE, the Women’s Union of Viet Nam and RERC. International partners include Japan-based New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), France-based Fondation Energies Pour le Monde (FONDEM), Sweden-based Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Germany-based Nordrhein – Westfalen (NRW), and US-based Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), as well as the governments of South Korea and other EU countries.

The development of Viet Nam’s renewable energy sector was launched with some US$10 million in international investment. Moreover, the International Cooperation in Renewable Energy has actively promoted local renewable energy technologies and built up a human resources base in the country.

After 30 years of research and development, the country produces 2 MW of solar power per year, only a fraction of Viet Nam’s potential for solar power production. “Now is the time for everyone to wake up and support solar power for a clean environment and sustainable development,” Dung said.

(Source: VNS)