Viet Nam advocates stronger APEC cooperation on energy security

The 16th APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting took place on September 10 - 11 in Beijing, China, as the global energy landscape is being simultaneously affected by geopolitical fluctuations, disruptions in fuel supply chains, increasingly extreme weather and growing electricity demand to support economic growth.

Attending the meeting and delivering remarks at its sessions, Tang The Hung, head of the Vietnamese delegation and Deputy Director of the Electricity Authority of Viet Nam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), affirmed that Viet Nam's consistent priority is to ensure a safe and stable energy supply at reasonable costs and in a sustainable manner. This is an important condition for meeting the requirements of economic development while pursuing long-term climate goals.

Ensuring energy security in tandem with the green transition

At the session themed "Energy for All", the head of the Vietnamese delegation noted that the Asia-Pacific region is facing major turning points in geopolitics, climate change and shifts in the global economic model.

According to the Vietnamese delegation, in 2026, the global energy landscape continues to face multidimensional pressures from fluctuations in fossil fuel supply chains, increasingly extreme weather events and growing demand for electrification across the economy. In the APEC region, the green energy transition is advancing strongly, but it is also highlighting new requirements for system stability and the ability to secure primary energy supplies.

Against this backdrop, energy security is no longer merely a matter of ensuring traditional energy supplies, but increasingly requires a balance between security of supply, price competitiveness and greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. Viet Nam believes that maintaining open and transparent energy trade flows and promoting technological cooperation among member economies are important conditions for the region to respond effectively to these changes.

For Viet Nam, ensuring energy security is closely linked to economic development and the transition towards cleaner energy sources.

The scale of the power system continues to expand to meet the requirements of economic recovery and development. Total installed power capacity currently stands at about 93,500 MW, with 478 power plants. Total electricity output in 2026 is estimated at 355 billion kWh, up 9.81% from 2025.

High electricity growth reflects rising demand for electricity, while also creating an urgent requirement to ensure a safe and stable power supply for production, business activities and people's daily lives. Based on this reality, Viet Nam proposed further improving market mechanisms and flexible energy pricing methods.

Accordingly, service-price frameworks and retail electricity prices should closely reflect fluctuations in market input costs. Flexible annual and intra-year price adjustments should ensure the recovery of reasonable costs, maintain the sound financial position of enterprises, and create incentives to attract non-State investment in power generation and grid infrastructure.

Alongside improvements to pricing mechanisms, Viet Nam stressed the need to expand the legal space for the electricity market and the direct power purchase mechanism. Diversifying forms of electricity transactions, expanding participation to industrial parks and clusters, and developing private connection models were identified as directions to unlock private-sector resources and promote a transparent and efficient renewable energy market.

For important baseload sources such as LNG-fired power, Viet Nam said bottlenecks in the institutional framework should continue to be removed, including mechanisms to compensate for fixed investment costs, while regulations on power purchase agreements, market design and related mechanisms should be reviewed in a coordinated manner.

Completing these mechanisms is aimed at harmonising the interests of the parties involved and ensuring the progress of investment projects, thereby contributing to strengthening power supply capacity as the energy system develops.

At the same time, Viet Nam is pursuing a policy of diversifying fuel sources, ensuring a stable supply of feedstock for power generation and gradually shifting from traditional fuels towards cleaner fuels such as green hydrogen and ammonia, in line with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions.

The energy transition also requires power infrastructure to be modernised in a coordinated manner. Viet Nam proposed ensuring the progress of power generation and transmission grid projects, accelerating the application of smart-grid technologies, energy storage systems and demand-side management solutions.

These measures are aimed at enhancing the power system's capacity to absorb renewable energy, reducing losses and improving the reliability of electricity supply. Viet Nam also stressed the need for digital transformation in governance, operations and the provision of online public services, while encouraging initiatives and technological innovation and focusing on developing a highly qualified workforce capable of meeting the requirements of next-generation energy systems.

From the perspective of regional cooperation, Viet Nam called on APEC economies to strengthen the sharing of experience in managing power systems with high shares of renewable energy, promote the transfer of energy storage technologies and connect green finance resources.

These proposals demonstrate Viet Nam's approach to energy security, which is inseparable from the requirements of sustainable development. Ensuring supply, strengthening system stability, developing clean energy and creating favourable conditions for investment and technological innovation are viewed as parts of an integrated whole.

Connecting technology, investment and human resources

At the discussion session on "Synergy", the Vietnamese delegation said the profound transformations taking place in the Asia-Pacific energy landscape are creating both challenges and opportunities for APEC economies to strengthen cooperation.

Accordingly, synergy should be placed at the centre of energy cooperation, based on connecting the strengths of individual economies while respecting their respective conditions, circumstances and development priorities.

First, Viet Nam proposed strengthening synergy among energy security, resilience and the transition towards clean energy. Energy security and sustainable development are not separate objectives but are mutually reinforcing.

For its part, Viet Nam prioritises cooperation to diversify its energy mix and promote the development of clean, renewable and environmentally friendly energy sources such as offshore wind power, solar power and biomass power, while researching and developing new energy sources such as hydrogen and ammonia.

These orientations contribute both to ensuring energy security and to supporting sustainable development goals.

Alongside the development of clean energy sources, the Vietnamese delegation said APEC should pay greater attention to strengthening the resilience of energy infrastructure and supply chains. Viet Nam wishes to expand cooperation in developing modern power grids, smart grids, advanced energy storage systems, microgrids, smart distribution networks and interregional power connections where conditions permit.

These are foundations for making power systems more flexible, enhancing their ability to absorb renewable energy, reducing losses and improving the reliability of electricity supply. Alongside investment in generation and grids, economies need to step up demand-side management, promote economical and efficient electricity use, and accelerate digital transformation in the governance and operation of energy systems.

Another issue Viet Nam particularly emphasised at the discussion was the synergy among technology, investment and human resources.

The transformation of energy systems requires substantial financial resources, a highly skilled workforce and the ability to master new technologies. In this process, APEC can contribute by promoting policy dialogue, sharing effective models, strengthening research and development cooperation, and encouraging public-private partnerships.

The areas of cooperation proposed by Viet Nam include technologies for large-scale power generation from new primary energy sources; advanced energy storage technologies; carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies; modernisation of power infrastructure; demand-side management; and improved energy efficiency.

The Vietnamese delegation also stressed the need to strengthen cooperation in energy-related scientific research and technology transfer. On a voluntary and mutually beneficial basis, economies can conduct joint research, share knowledge, build capacity and transfer technologies, thereby creating additional momentum for the transformation of energy systems.

Another issue proposed by Viet Nam was to improve coordination among relevant APEC forums, including the Energy Working Group (EWG), the Policy Partnership for Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI), the Telecommunications and Information Working Group (TELWG), and the Digital Economy Steering Group (DESG).

According to the Vietnamese delegation, stronger coordination among these mechanisms would help integrate energy cooperation more deeply into programmes on digital transformation, artificial intelligence, trade, investment, infrastructure development and sustainable growth.

This would also provide a means of harnessing the value of diversity within APEC, turning differences in the conditions, resources and strengths of individual economies into drivers of cooperation rather than obstacles to the energy transition.

Based on the proposals put forward at the 16th APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting, Viet Nam affirmed that energy security cannot be achieved through the efforts of a single country. Ensuring a safe and stable energy supply at reasonable costs should be placed within a broader framework of cooperation in infrastructure, technology, investment, human resources and the clean energy transition.