Vietnam should focus on four key priorities to ensure energy security while achieving rapid and sustainable growth, said Associate Professor Duong Thi Hong Lien, Vice President for ESG and Sustainability at the Vietnam-Australia Scholars and Experts Association (VASEA).

Associate Professor Duong Thi Hong Lien, Vice President for ESG and Sustainability at the Vietnam-Australia Scholars and Experts Association.

She made the recommendations in an interview with a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Australia, given that ongoing tensions in the Middle East have delivered a significant shock to global energy markets.

Drawing on practical short-term implementation of energy models as well as long-term strategic trends in Australia, Lien, who also serves as Theme Lead on Carbon Markets at Curtin University’s Curtin Institute for Energy Transition, emphasised that fuel reserves and energy security infrastructure remain less visible areas, yet are critically important.

According to the expert, Vietnam’s petroleum reserves remain low, with targets to rise from around 9 days of net imports to 15–30 days by 2026–2030, still well below the International Energy Agency (IEA) benchmark.

“This should be a priority for Vietnam: not only expanding storage, but also establishing robust financing mechanisms, inventory rotation systems, and transparent release protocols during market disruptions,” she noted.

The second priority, Lien said, is grid infrastructure, storage, renewable integration and electrification.

In her view, Vietnam’s challenge is not resource potential but constraints in transmission, system operation, storage, and pricing signals.

While the country’s revision of its eighth Power Development Plan (PDP VIII), alongside the Direct Power Purchase Agreement (DPPA) mechanism, and rooftop solar policies are positive steps, faster progress is needed on the system “backbone”: interregional grids, battery storage, a more competitive electricity market, and stable offtake mechanisms to attract private investment.

Electrification shifts energy demand from fuel imports to domestically generated electricity, especially from renewables.

“Vietnam has emerged as the global leader in electric vehicle (EV) sales share, with EVs accounting for 42% of all new cars sold in the first half of 2025, the highest ratio worldwide,” Lien added.

Moving to the third priority, which is the new energy industries, the expert said energy security increasingly depends not just on supply, but on domestic capabilities across strategic value chains, from grid equipment and batteries to clean fuels for transport and aviation.

“Vietnam should prioritise areas that both drive growth and reduce import dependence, including next-generation biofuels, sustainable aviation fuel, battery and storage industries, industrial rooftop solar, and energy efficiency in manufacturing.”

On the fourth priority, she said the current conflict strengthens the economic case for carbon pricing in the long term, even as it may weaken its short-term political acceptability.

Price volatility exposes the hidden costs of dependence on imported fossil fuels, reinforcing the rationale for carbon pricing to accelerate fuel switching, efficiency, electrification, and renewable investment, thereby reducing exposure to future shocks.

The scholar also observed that in Vietnam, the carbon market development plan was approved in 2025, with its pilot focuses mainly on the power sector.

The March 2026 oil shock did not trigger stronger carbon pricing, highlighting the gap between long-term strategy and short-term response.

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