North Hanoi Smart City

North Hanoi Smart City - The first carbon-neutral urban area in Vietnam and the world

The North Hanoi Smart City is being built with the goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral urban area in Vietnam and the world.

Within the framework of the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) Leadership Conference held in Jakarta (Indonesia), four partners including BRG Group (Vietnam), Sumitomo Group (Japan), North Hanoi Smart City Development Investment Joint Stock Company (NHSC) and Thang Long Industrial Park Company Limited (TLIP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in decarbonization through energy management between North Hanoi Smart City (NHSC) and Thang Long Industrial Park (TLIP) with the expectation of making North Hanoi Smart City the first carbon-neutral urban area in Vietnam and the world.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, Chairwoman of BRG Group, and representatives of the parties attended the memorandum of understanding ceremony, witnessed by Mr. Ken Saito, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (standing in the middle).

The objective of this MoU is to achieve decarbonization in the integrated area of ​​North Hanoi Smart City and Thang Long Industrial Park through various energy management measures and create a model for future smart city and industrial park in Vietnam to contribute to the Vietnamese government's carbon neutrality policy by 2050.

Sharing at the memorandum of understanding ceremony, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, Chairwoman of BRG Group said: “With the mission of contributing the best to the community, we hope to turn the North Hanoi Smart City project, one of the key economic cooperation projects between the two governments of Vietnam and Japan, into the first carbon-neutral urban area not only in Vietnam but also in the world, a typical example of Hanoi and Vietnam in developing an increasingly sustainable environment and contributing to promoting the early completion of the Vietnamese Government's commitment at COP26 to achieve net emissions of "0" by 2050 and the national action plan to respond to climate change for the period 2021 - 2030".

Perspective of the North Hanoi Smart City project invested by a joint venture between BRG Group (Vietnam) and Sumitomo Group (Japan) with a total investment of 4.2 billion USD and a total area of ​​nearly 272 hectares in Dong Anh district, Hanoi.

“Sumitomo Corporation aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 and would like to contribute to Vietnam’s commitment to reduce net emissions to zero by the same date. This goal can be achieved through the development of advanced technologies including renewable energy development and energy-saving solutions as well as the establishment of operating models to create a sustainable energy cycle,” said Mr. Takashi Yanai, General Director of Industrial Zones and Sustainable Cities Division, Sumitomo Corporation.

The AZEC conference will take place from August 20-21, 2024, with the participation of many government officials from countries in the region. AZEC shares common principles among member countries, aiming to address climate change issues which are a common global challenge while ensuring energy security and economic growth, and pursuing the goal of carbon neutrality/net zero emissions through various methods depending on the specific conditions of each country.

Earlier, at the AZEC 2023 Conference in Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio affirmed the importance of achieving the common goal of “net zero emissions through various means” as well as a three-step breakthrough to simultaneously achieve “decarbonization, economic growth and energy security”.

Prime Minister Kishida mentioned Japan's actions and expressed his willingness to share Japan's technology and experience through the AZEC platform, establish a green supply chain through cooperative efforts including the development of zero-emission industrial zones, and cooperation between businesses, with Vietnam being the first partner that Japan supports in the AZEC initiative.

Revealing the above Memorandum of Understanding, Nikkei Asean said that Sumitomo and its partners will be self-sufficient in electricity, accounting for about 30-40% of the demand for the North Hanoi Smart City and Thang Long Industrial Park, from renewable energy sources through solar power production with solar panels placed on factory roofs, floating on the surface of the regulating lake and biomass power production. Sumitomo plans to invest about 50 billion yen (equivalent to 338 million USD) to achieve a total solar and biomass power generation capacity of over 200 MW.

In addition, battery storage is also considered so that solar power can be stored for use at night. The power transmission lines connecting the smart city and the industrial zone are designed to ensure more energy is transferred to the factories during the working day and to the urban area at night and on holidays.

The parties aim to be carbon neutral for 100% of electricity consumption in the North Hanoi Smart City and Thang Long Industrial Park by 2030 by a combination of self-generated electricity, direct purchase of electricity from other renewable energy power plants and the use of carbon credits.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/thanh-pho-thong-minh-bac-ha-noi---the-first-carbon-neutral-urban-area-of-viet-nam-va-the-gioi-d222998.html