Định hướng đầu tư 10 công nghệ năng lượng trong thập kỷ tới

From 2021 to 2030, 10 energy technologies will be invested in Vietnam to ensure energy security for the country’s socio-economic development. This is a part of the "Research, Application, and Development of Energy Technologies" program.

Natural resources and environment are among 10 technology to invest in Vietnam

These technologies were chosen in accordance with Vietnam's national energy development policy, which reflects the country's commitment to attaining net-zero emissions by the year 2050.

These directions will be put into practice in five key contents, helping to shape scientific and technical tasks on a big scale with the help of corporations, companies, and cutting-edge businesses in each energy sector.

Investment in Vietnam will be between $8 billion and $14 billion a year through 2030 to develop new power plants and expand its grid, its deputy industry minister said in August 2022. According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Dang Hoang An, 75% of the funds would be spent on new power plants, with a preference for renewable sources, and 25% on grid expansion.

He said the country will seek to raise funds from private investors to invest in Vietnam for the new power projects, without elaborating.

As a regional manufacturing hub, Vietnam needs to increase its installed power generation capacity by around 10% a year to support its fast-growing economy and population.

An said Vietnam will increase its offshore wind capacity to 7 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and to 65 GW by 2045 while reducing the use of coal in its energy mix. Vietnam vowed last year to become carbon-neutral by 2050.

Vietnam will only continue coal projects that are currently under construction through 2030, according to An, and will not add any new coal-fired power plants to its master power development plan.

The ministry requested last month that future coal projects with a total capacity of 14.12 GW be taken out of the draft master power development plan.

According to state media, the total installed power generation capacity of Vietnam would increase from 76.6 GW at the end of last year to 121 GW by 2030 and to 284 GW by 2045 under the most recent draft of the master power development plan.

Batteries with ultra-high power and safety are critical to promoting global battery adoption 

Batteries are now recognized as the most prevalent component in consumer electronics gadgets, including computers, mobile phones, electric cars, and motorcycles. The worldwide battery business still faces difficulties, the most common of which is how to create a battery cell with long-term energy retention and quicker charging times even though batteries are seen as the energy source of the future. Additionally, the batteries must be safer and have a longer lifespan.

Scientific investigations indicate that these difficulties can be overcome by utilizing sophisticated tungsten materials in the battery. If developed, the new battery technology will be 10 times more powerful and 10 times more durable. Additionally, it can be charged 90% in 5 minutes.

The electric vehicle (EV) sector can create models that can travel further with less time spent charging by utilizing this invention. Because the battery will take up less space, users' mobile devices will be smaller. As a result of their increased heat resistance and decreased explosion dangers, all technological items will likewise be safer.

Furthermore, with a longer battery lifetime, it helps lower much total cost of end-users. The burden of battery recycling after use will also lessen, and the environment will become greener. 

In July 2022, Nyobolt, a UK-based provider of Lithium-ion fast-charging battery solutions company, the only producer in tungsten-battery cell industry with high potential for commercializing its products in the future managed to raise 52 million Euro from H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders (HCS). HCS is a German business with more than a century of tungsten recycling experience. HCS's owner is none other than Masan High-Tech Materials (MHT). This handshake represents MHT's next step in its mission to become more than just a producer of high-tech materials for the worldwide market and turn into a producer of high-tech consumer goods, such as battery cells made of tungsten. MHT is anticipated to make an investment in Vietnam to support sustainable energy.

Nyobolt is expected to use HCS hi-tech tungsten material in its battery anode coating that will help the battery achieve record high capacity. As such HCS will, through its new products and inventions like Nyobolt battery, come closer to the end-users, who will benefit directly from the hi-tech materials technology.  

A full value chain with a favorable influence on the community

Apparently, MHT is expanding its investment in Vietnam to develop a strategy of horizontal and vertical integration. On the one hand, MHT invests in the companies that can commercialize their products using MHT hi-tech materials to directly meet the need of the end-users such as Nyobolt batteries. On the other hand, the mining operation and processing of advanced materials with high purity and material recycling are forecasted to thrive.

Masan High Tech Materials’ shift its focus to invest in Vietnam and global from mining to investment in the technologies will have a direct impact on the end-users, marking a deeper market penetration into the consumer sector. 

In reality, the business expansion into subsequent stages of technology materials manufacturing has been proven to be successful. Take HP for instance, after expanding its business operation from producing office printers and computers to providing ink accessories and printing papers, they gained much higher sales than other businesses selling ink cartridge only. 

According to Harvard Business Review, businesses will be better able to engage in the value chain if they expand to move further downstream, thus boosting sales and revenue, and developing stronger customer relationships that will eventually result in brand loyalty. 

At the MHT 2022 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Craig Richard Bradshaw, CEO of MHT said “Instead of just supplying materials to make smart phones, automobiles, aircrafts or submarines, we make investments in research and development (R&D) so that we can one day create practical consumer products for these key industries”.