Vietnam Smart Grid Week 2019, co-organized by the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (Ministry of Industry and Trade) and the German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ), was held in Hanoi from December 2 to 5, 2019 and aimed to demonstrate the digitalization and flexibility of the power system for increased integration of renewable energy.
The event also targeted the promotion of the deployment of smart grid technology and applications for renewable energy development and efficient energy use; building a smart grid community network in Vietnam and enhancing technology cooperation and links with other countries.
As one of the most dynamically growing economies in Asia, Viet Nam faces an enormous increase in energy demand that will continue to grow at a double-digit rate in the coming years. Although there are constant investments in generation and grid infrastructure, reliability and security of electricity supply remain substantial challenges for the Vietnamese power system, especially in the period of 2021-2025, which may cause supply-demand risks.
The Week provided the opportunity for experts and business delegates to discuss trends and vision for a future sustainable power system of Viet Nam, exchange knowledge and experience about smart energy solutions that enable high shares of renewable energy and energy efficiency and showcase innovative emerging technologies and applications for the power system of the future.
On December 4, named the “Smart Grid Symposium Vietnam” day, seminars were hold for knowledge exchange between power system experts and academics on the topics of flexibility options for high shares of renewable energy, the impact of renewable energy on the power system, and enabling a smart grid with regulatory frameworks. Ata Khavari, Researcher and Project manager at DERlab, talked about Strategies to ensure stability and security of power supply in inverter dominated grids, Holistic validation procedure for smart grid systems and Advanced tools and services enabling flexibility in energy systems.
Wolfram Heckmann, Group Manager of Supply Quality and Supply Security at Fraunhofer IEE discussed about the pathway of smart energy technologies into the power system during the opening session of day 3. Furthermore, he presented the challenges of integrating wind and solar into the power system, the importance of the regulative infrastructure for increasing the shares of RE in the power system and why we need flexibility options for the power system.