Central Highland province of Dak Lak possesses huge renewable energysources. Over the past time, the province has effectively exploited andused these potentials and contributed to regional and local energysecurity. Report by the Vietnam Business Forum.

DakLak is considered to have rich hydropower potential. According to thestatistics of the Department of Industry and Trade, the province has putinto use 12 small hydropower plants with a combined capacity of73.14MW.

Hydropower plants supply the local gridand support the national grid when necessary. Power sources from theseplants also help reduce the overload of some 110-KV transformer stationsand ensure stable operation of the power system.

Like hydropower, Dak Lak also has great potential for solar powerproduction. In 2002, in a joint project between NRW Company (Germany)and Ho Chi Minh City - Solarlab Physics Institute’s branch under theMinistry of Natural Resources and Environment, an experimental solarpower application model was deployed in Cham village, Ea H'leo district.

This is the first mountainous village to use solarpower in Vietnam, accessed by all the 180 households. In the comingtime, a big solar power project will be invested and deployed in DakLak.

To tap wind power potential in the province,Hanoi-based Infrastructure Investment and Urban Business Joint StockCompany installed two wind measurement poles in Ea Khal commune, EaH'leo district.

Besides, the Binh Thuan Wind PowerCorporation, based in Binh Thuan province, erected wind measurementturbine towers in the campus of Thanh Vu cassava starch factory in EaH'leo commune, Ea H'leo district. Abundant wind energy potentials in DakLak will open up great opportunities for building wind-to-power plantsin the province in the future.

Regarding biogassources, in the framework of biogas programme along with animalhusbandry, Dak Lak has trained 21 technicians and 22 builders. Besidethe 3,947 projects funded by the national biogas project, people in theprovince also self-invested to build 6,000 biogas works, bringing thetotal biogas projects to over 10,000. Furthermore, the Dak Lak starchprocessing plant has put to use its biogas system to supply energy fordrying 100 percent of starch.

As anagriculture-based province, with farming area accounting for 91.8percent of total land area, of which forestland is about 47 percent,perennial tree area is approximately 20 percent, and paddy area is about5.5 percent. Abundant biomass energy from logs, rice husk, bagasse,wood chips, sawdust, and agricultural by-products is diversifyingbiomass sources with huge reserves but application and exploitation ofenergy sources remains modest.

Sugar Joint StockCompany 333 has upgraded its processing capacity to 2,500 tonnes ofsugarcane a day. The factory also invested a new energy system with asteamer of 60 tonnes and a turbine complex of 3,000KW, bringing thetotal power generating capacity of the factory to 4.5MW.

The potentiality of renewable energy sources in the province of DakLak is still very large. According to the project of evaluating thereality and building economical and efficient energy using programmes inDak Lak province in 2011-2015, with a vision to 2020, Dak Lak strivesto increase the proportion of power sourced from new energy andrenewable energy to 25 percent of total power consumption in theprovince by 2015, equivalent to 112MW (out of 444 MW planned for 2015 inthe province.)

Vo Thanh, Director of theDepartment of Industry and Trade, said Dac Lak will focus on investingand utilising renewable energy sources efficiently, protecting theenvironment and ensuring energy security for socioeconomic developmentdemand.-VNA