Hanoi, 30 Sept 2022 – The Delegation of European Union (EUD) to Viet Nam and Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Viet Nam announced a three-year program “Accelerating Innovative Startups for Energy Efficiency” (AIS4EE) to promote entrepreneurship in energy efficiency and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
Viet Nam is one of the most energy-intensive economies in East Asia and final energy consumption has tripled over the past decade. In its updated NDC, Viet Nam has pledged to cut GHG emissions by 15.8% by 2030, with a further conditional target of 43.5% with international support*. In addition, during the COP26, the government of Viet Nam announced its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Energy efficiency is a critical component to achieve these emissions reductions. In the Viet Nam National Energy Efficiency Program Phase III, 2019-2030 (VNEEP3), the country’s primary energy efficiency plan, an emphasized objective is to “promote energy efficiency innovative products and solutions for the market”.
Aligned with Viet Nam’s Industrialization 4.0 Agenda, young entrepreneurs and start-ups are anticipated to play a key role in bringing changes and boosting innovations for energy efficiency in Viet Nam. However, the local start-up scene for energy efficiency is still nascent, facing multiple challenges including limited access to finance, lack of adequate policy framework and underdeveloped technical capacity of energy efficiency start-ups.
To address the need for market development in the energy efficiency sector, the EUD and GGGI kick off the “Accelerating Innovative Startups for Energy Efficiency” (AIS4EE) program in 2022, aiming to increase investments in innovative business solutions in energy efficiency for the industry, transportation, and green building sectors in Viet Nam. In collaboration with the Viet Nam Ministry of Industry and Trade, the program aims to achieve three main targets:
- Accelerating innovation through financial and technical assistance: the accelerator program will support energy efficiency start-ups with well-developed business models and near-market-ready solutions.
- Enhancing policy framework for innovative start-ups in energy efficiency through policy gap analysis and consultation with relevant stakeholders.
- Improving innovative ecosystem for energy efficiency start-ups through close collaboration with national and international universities; development of knowledge sharing products; opportunities for different stakeholder groups to engage through online platforms and in-person networking events.
More information on the GGGI Accelerating Innovative Startups for Energy Efficiency can be found here