The shortage of electricity for economic development is becoming more and more severe. The increase in electricity price is said to “encourage” business owners to save energy, but the fact is not as expected.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the program on energy efficiency, after five years of implementation, has attracted 40% of key energy consuming businesses nationwide to participate, built the model of using power economically and efficiently. However, the results are still limited.

The energy saving potential in the industry in particular is rather large. Calculations have shown that textile and garment can save from 5-15%, cement 10-20%, chemicals 20%, civil engineering and transportation can save 25 - 30%...

The inefficient use of electricity has been repeatedly warned by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). Due to the inefficient use energy, for the GDP to increase by 1%, the growth rate of electricity production in Vietnam has to double or be even higher.

A study recently conducted by ABB (an enterprise specializing in manufacturing and supplying engines and electrical systems headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland) has shown that 60% of the manufacturers have invested in improving energy efficiency of basic machinery and equipment in three recent years.
There are three barriers which keep businesses from investing more in the efficient use of energy. According to business executives, those barriers are: lack of clear financial policies for investment in energy saving, lack of information and lack of energy saving measures.

The actual implementation of energy saving in businesses has only focused on using compact bulbs, turning off lights when not needed, and recently some ideas of the energy-saving building model... but has not paid attention to electric motors which consume lots of energy.

According to a recent study by the International Energy Agency (IEA), engines consume the most electricity, account for about 45% of global energy consumption, followed by lighting which accounts for 19%. According to this agency, if the problem of engines operating inefficiently, excessively or unnecessarily is solved, it is totally possible to save 20-30% of the total power consumption of the engines.

"It is surprising that engines account for two-thirds of the electricity used in industry, and the annual cost of electricity when operating a motor in industry may be seven times as much as its purchase price", said the study of ABB.