Bac Lieu promotes use of renewable energy in shrimp farming

Bac Lieu – Specialists and scientists have gathered at a conference in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu to promote the use of renewable energy in shrimp farming for the industry’s sustainable development.

Shrimp harvesting in Bac Lieu province (Photo: VNA)

The “Conference Promoting Renewable Energy Investment for Vietnamese Shrimp Industry” was held on August 17 by the Vietnam Fisheries Society (VINAFIS) in collaboration with the Bac Lieu provincial People’s Committee, the management board of the project “Sustainable and Equitable Shrimp Production and Value Chain Development in Vietnam (SusV),” GRAISEA Project, International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability (ICAFIS), Oxfam Vietnam, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Vietnam.

It is inevitable to use renewable energy in shrimp farming as it helps save electricity, cut costs and promote the industry’s sustainable development, heard the conference.

In 2017, the total aquaculture production area of 10 southern provinces – Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Long An, Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Ninh Thuan – spanned 428,495 hectares and the production consumed nearly 12,000 million KW.h.

To 2020, the total area is expected to be 651,266 hectares with electricity demand increasing by 30 percent compared to 2017’s, which will result in electrical overload while current investment in electricity fails to keep up with such rapid growth.

According to the Southern Power Cooperation (EVNSPC), most of the shrimp farming households use electricity for lighting their farms, frequently causing overload for the  regional grid. Additionally, there is a lack of an effective coordination mechanism among sectoral authorities to properly manage power supply infrastructure, power efficiency and safety, and the environment.

To solve the problem, EVNSPC Deputy Director General Nguyen Van Ly proposed a grid-connected solar power system in shrimp cultivation to be studied and put into use. The system will not only generate power for on-site consumption but also reduce the amount of electricity used from the national grid and CO2 emissions, and cut costs.

VINAFIS President Nguyen Viet Thang added that the system will also help reduce temperature for shrimp ponds.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Vuong Phuong Nam said Bac Lieu has 12 companies, two organisations and 318 households implementing intensive and semi-intensive shrimp farming using electricity.

The province has worked to develop renewble energy with the Bac Lieu wind power plant put while other 15 wind power project with a combined capacity of nearly 3,000MW are being reviewed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade for approval.