The article summarizes the current status of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hanoi, the application of energy efficiency measures to this sector, some specific policies of Hanoi and recommending, proposing solutions to promote efficient energy use in small and medium-sized enterprises for both relevant state management agencies and SMEs.

In recent years, enterprises in Hanoi have made progress in both quantity and quality. The number of newly established enterprises has continuously increased over the years, of which mainly are small and medium enterprises, accounting for 97% of the total number of enterprises in Hanoi. As of April 2020, the total number of enterprises registered to operate in Hanoi is 286,631 enterprises. In more than 4 years (from 2016-2020), there are over 107,000 newly established enterprises, of which mainly are SMEs (also accounting for 97%). The number of products produced by the SME sector accounts for over 30% of the total products. Investment capital of the SME sector accounts for 25% of the total investment capital of the whole. The sector structure is: Wholesale, retail trade, repair of cars and motorbikes account for 34.38%; Construction: 12.35%; Processing and manufacturing industry: 10.68%; Science, technology and consulting, design: 10.15%; Employment and tourism services: 7.8%; Information and Communication: 5.10%; Education and training: 4.48%; Real estate trading: 4.07%; Transportation, warehousing: 3.92%; Banking and Finance: 1.12%; Accommodation and catering services: 2.07%; The rest are other service industries: 4.15%. The SME sector has been increasingly asserting its pivotal and pioneering role in the construction and development of the Capital.

Energy and energy security has always been one of the nation's top pillars of concern. In the current context of Vietnam, large and medium-scale hydropower sources have been almost fully exploited; oil and gas potential and reserves will soon be declined, renewable energy cannot be met immediately on a large scale. We have had to import coal for power production, especially in recent times when the world is facing with the risk of an existing energy crisis. Therefore the promotion of solutions for economical and efficient use of energy is a highly economic solution that should be prioritized and promoted in all fields, all industries and all businesses, including SMEs nationwide in general and SMEs in the city in particular.

1. Current status of energy management in SMEs in Hanoi

            Current practice shows that many SMEs in Hanoi are operating with small production scale, lack of system character; their equipment and production technology are  backward compared to other countries in the region. Although in recent years, more SMEs operating on an industrial scale in industrial zones, clusters and craft villages have made many progress in energy efficiency and conservation, but there is still many small and medium-sized enterprises that are currently are using outdated technological equipment  with low efficiency, consuming a lot of energy, causing environmental pollution. Preliminary statistics show that more than 65% of the equipment used in SMEs is old and outdated machinery. Only a small percentage (more than 30%) have relatively modern technology and equipment. The types of energy used to serve the production and business of SMEs are electricity, coal, gas, oil etc., of which electric energy is the main one (accounting for nearly 70%). To produce products, these enterprises have a large consumption of both energy and raw materials, while the quality of the products is not high due to the low quality of equipment, leading to low competitiveness.

Through the recent survey at SMEs by the Hanoi Center for Industrial Promotion and Consulting for Industrial Development, most of the SMEs have common difficulties due to the following reasons:

(1) Not having access to the advanced energy management methods, so the energy management work encounters many difficulties and has not achieved high efficiency. Most of the departments in charge of monitoring and managing energy consumption is in lack of appropriately trained technicians or SME's technical staff must perform many different tasks concurrently. Therefore, the quality of management and implementation on energy use activities at enterprises has not really brought the highest efficiency. There are very few SMEs that have established targets, norms and indicators on economic àn efficient use of energy;

(2) The regulations and guidelines on energy efficiency and conservation have not been regularly updated, so they do not understand the benefits and responsibilities to perform;

(3) The awareness and consciousness about the economical and efficient use of energy are limited, so the prodigality and wasteful use of energy is still quite common.

            Although there are some difficulties and limitations as above, many SMEs have also paid attention to the issue of energy saving. This interest is shown specifically through a number of management tools such as:

            a) Regular maintenance of machinery and equipment systems in service of production and business activities;

            b) There have been a lot of changes on investment in renewing equipment systems and production lines with high energy efficiency, integrating inverters for some equipment in the production lines;

            c) Gradually replace light equipment with large capacity with energy-saving lighting equipment. Many SMEs have solutions to take advantage of natural light to serve production in factories, to install a system of compensating capacitors at the substation to increase the cosj factor;

            d) Promulgate documents, regulations on EE and guide officials and employees on measures to use energy as well as the skill to operate equipment in an economical and efficient manner. In addition, the propaganda about the awareness of enerrgy efficient use and electricity saving has also been conducted regularly such as issuing notices on energy saving use, setting attention boards to turning off electrical equipment when leaving on the doors and electrical switches etc.

2. Policy to promote economical and efficient use of energy of Hanoi for SMEs

            On March 13, 2019, the Prime Minister approved the National Program on economical and efficient use of energy for the period of 2019-2030 in Decision 280/QD-TTg with the goal of forming good habits for energy use in all activities of the society; reducing energy intensity in economic sectors and fields.

A modern SME production line in Hanoi

            Saving energy should become a regular activity for key energy users and key economic sectors that consume a lot of energy, towards the goal of green growth and sustainable development. Hanoi has synchronously implemented many solutions such as: propagating, guiding and supporting SMEs to raise their awareness of efficient and economical use of energy, application of new technologies, usage of renewable energy and alternative energy  etc.

To implement the National Program on economical and efficient use of energy in Hanoi, the City People's Committee has issued the Plan for the period 2021-2025 with the objectives:

(1) Implement the Program on economical and efficient use of energy in Hanoi city, contribute to ensuring and stabilizing national energy security; apply management and technical measures to reduce losses and reduce energy consumption of equipment and vehicles while satisfy the needs and goals set for the production process and life;

(2) Synchronously implement tasks, technical support solutions, equipment renewal, technology transfer, market transformation, training and human resource development, take advantage of experience and support from domestic and foreign organizations and units, effectively apply the achievements of the 4th Industrial Revolution in the implementation of the Program; Form habits, thereby improve skills in economical and efficient use of energy in socio-economic activities in the city, contribute to the realization of the common goal of the National Program on energy use. savings and efficiency by 2030;

(3) Strive to achieve energy savings of 5.0% to 7.0% of total energy consumption and reduce power loss to less than 4.0% citywide. Reduce the average energy consumption for industries/sub-industries compared to the period 2016 - 2020, specifically: (i) For textile industry: at least 5.0%; (ii) For alcohol, beer and beverage industry: from 3.0% to 6.88% depending on product type and production scale; (iii) For paper industry: from 8.0% to 15.80% depending on product type and production scale; (iv) For chemical industry: minimum 7.0%; (v) For plastic manufacturing industry: from 18.0% to 22.46%.

3. Solutions to promote economical and efficient use of energy for SMEs in Hanoi until 2030

            With the importance of the SME sector increasing in quantity and quality, a synchronous solution from both sides is needed to promote economical and efficient use of energy:

On the side of state agencies: Continue to improve mechanisms and policies to support and promote activities for the economical and efficient use of energy in the SME sector; Increase investment, apply diverse forms of mobilizing resources to promote scientific research, development and application of advanced technologies for economical and efficient use of energy for SMEs; Capacity building for energy testing and audit consulting organizations. Training and capacity building for managers, especially localities and SMEs on economical and efficient use of energy; Organize propaganda and advocacy activities to raise awareness and implement the provisions of the legal documents on economical and efficient use of energy; Organize training courses on economical and efficient use of energy in a format suitable for SMEs; Promote energy efficiency consulting services to carry out the following activities: Energy assessment survey; Energy audit; Transfer of energy-saving and environment-friendly technologies; Training and consulting to apply advanced energy management models; Consulting on implementation of energy saving measures suitable for SMEs. Focus in implementing financial packages to support SMEs in production, business or converting equipment into high-performance, energy-saving technology models.

On the side of SMEs: It is necessary to renew thinking and have a long-term vision in activities of the economical and efficient use of energy, specifically:

(1) Change habits and behaviors to form skills and raise employees' awareness of energy saving through the performance of training sessions for staff on energy saving. Implement a simple, concise and easy-to-understand communication method for employees about ECO energy use activities at each unit;

(2) SMEs need to develop and issue their policies and plans to promote energy-saving activities associated with appropriate strategies, production and business activities, from which generating profits and increasing revenue. Depending on the scale of production and business, each enterprise needs to organize an assessment of energy use and conduct energy audit (self-implemented, or registered with support from the state management agency or outsourced) from which it can establish norms and energy efficiency indicators to serve as a basis for implementing energy-saving solutions, building sanctions associated with employees' responsibilities for the implementation of internal rules and regulations on the economical and efficient use of energy;

(3) In addition to regular attention to maintain machinery and equipment for production, SMEs need to have a plan to gradually transform, apply modern technology and equipment, automate production, apply advanced operational management measures and use alternative new energy sources etc.

From the above issues, we can see that the potential and solutions to promote energy efficiency activities for SMEs are huge. In addition to the support policy of the State, SMEs need to be more proactive in implementing activities on the economical and efficient use of energy at their business, both bringing practical benefits to themselves and contributing to the sustainable development and ensurement of national energy security./.

MSc. Hoang Minh Lam- Hanoi IDC

& Vietnam Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency Association

References:

1) Decision No. 3700/QD-UBND of the Hanoi People's Committee dated August 21, 2020 on the issuance of the implementation plan of the National Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy in the 2021-2025 period in Hanoi;

2) Plan No. 75/KH-UBND of the Hanoi People's Committee dated March 19, 2021 on the implementation of the National Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy in 2021 in Hanoi.