VIETNAM : Dak Nong province - Results

Abstract of the inventory and analysis of DRE infrastructures and electrified villages in Dak Nong Province – VIETNAM

1. Objectives
• obtain a clear identification of both favourable factors and barriers related to the establishment and operation of decentralized rural infrastructures,
• be able to precisely identify the villages electrified by the power grid or by decentralised operators.

2. Inventory of DRE projects in Dak Nong Province

3. SWOT analysis of existing DRE and rural electrification in Dak Nong

Strengths
• Installation and maintenance of renewable energy systems are quite easy. Inhabitants with low knowledge can use and maintain the systems.
• Private and foreign entrepreneurs are attracted to invest in RE projects and sell RE systems. Payment plans of these commercial projects are flexible.
• DRE projects got support of local administration, which has experience in managing DRE projects.

Weaknesses
• 85% of the households in the province have already access to grid electricity. Furthermore, the national company Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) is targeting an electrification rate of 100% within 2015.
• Commercial energy projects are reserved for the rich. And payments depend on the harvests and the price of farming product.
• The capacities of Renewable Energies (RE) systems are low, and meet the demand of normal activities, not of farming production. Value of RE system is high in comparison with the income of rural inhabitants. Therefore, projects will have difficulty in deploying without sponsor. Without subsidy, RE systems are not competitive with the national grid.
• The definition of DRE projects must be based on an estimation of the real demand of potential beneficiaries and of their payment capacities.
• Technicians who are responsible for maintaining PV systems have to be selected with care, with technical abilities and appropriate training.
• Salary of technicians should not be low, because otherwise they will not carry out their task properly, and the technical maintenance service will not be assured anymore.
• There is no DRE policy or plan of Dak Nong administration. Hence, DRE projects requiring capital contribution of local administration will be complex and difficult to deploy in Dak Nong province.

Opportunities:
• Electricity demand of local inhabitants is increasing. Price of farming product tends to grow, economic condition of households increases gradually. They desire to get electricity for daily activities, especially for productive activities such as pumping. They can invest money in spreading national grid or RE systems with high capacity.
• Dak Nong province has a high percentage of ethnic minorities and newly established people. Hence, Vietnamese government attaches special importance to electrifying this province.
• Although national electrification rate of 100% is aimed in 2015, because of the mountainous landscape, all households will not be electrified by national grid.

Threats
• The poor or the ethnic minority groups usually live scattered in remote areas. It is difficult for them to access grid electrification. Moreover, they cannot buy RE systems without title – deed.
• Awareness level of rural inhabitants is very low, especially for ethnic minority groups.

4. Recommendations
• Dak Nong is a province that has a high economic potential such as coffee, rubber, and pepper… This potentiality will develop with electricity. However, 100% of households are not to be electrified due to rough and mountainous terrain. Therefore, future DRE projects should develop preferentially in Dak Nong province with available energy sources such as hydro-electricity, biomass, solar energy...
• Future DRE projects should aim not only at lighting and audiovisual demand, but also productive activities to generate more income of households.
• Some households are setting up by themselves micro-hydroelectricity systems near streams. These households are few in comparison with total number of households living near streams. The reason was that they did not know how to build the systems or their systems were so small that stream water swept them away. Future DRE projects should consider supporting these households with techniques to consolidate the systems.

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