Did you know that using electricity at different times can cause a business’s electricity bill to differ by up to three times?
Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises are currently under immense pressure to reduce operational costs, particularly electricity expenses, due to the rising energy trend. This pressure is exacerbated by the substantial disparity in official EVN electricity tariffs.
For manufacturing businesses, tariffs defined by Decision 1279/QĐ-BCT range from 1,918 VND/kWh during off-peak hours to 5,422 VND/kWh during peak hours at the voltage level below 6kV. This difference, nearly 2.8 times, creates a significant opportunity for cost savings.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are emerging as a strategic solution to help factories and production facilities significantly cut energy costs. By implementing BESS, businesses can transform EVN’s complex electricity price fluctuations into a sustainable competitive advantage.
Electricity costs represent a substantial portion of production expenditure, accounting for 10–20% of the cost of goods for many industrial businesses, and reaching up to 25% in heavy industry.
Businesses face three primary challenges related to energy management:
- Burden of Peak-Hour Costs: Operating production machinery during the most expensive peak hours (typically 09:30–11:30 and 17:00–20:00) severely erodes profit margins, as peak electricity prices are nearly three times higher than off-peak prices,.
- Risk of Peak Shaving Penalties (Pmax): Failing to control maximum power consumption (Pmax) leads to businesses exceeding their registered capacity and incurring penalty fees. Companies whose Pmax is excessively high compared to their average consumption stand to benefit significantly from BESS integration.
- Ineffective Renewable Energy Investment: For businesses with rooftop solar systems, surplus daytime electricity often goes to waste due to the lack of storage, limiting the self-consumption rate to around 30–40%.
BESS addresses these core challenges through a mechanism known as smart load shifting, managed by an intelligent Energy Management System (EMS).
Load Shifting: This is the core economic principle of BESS. The system automatically charges power during the off-peak period (22:00 to 04:00 the following morning) when electricity prices are lowest, and subsequently discharges that stored electricity to power production activities during the high-cost peak periods,. The EMS ensures that the charge-discharge schedule is optimized automatically based on real-time tariffs.
Peak Shaving Technique: BESS goes beyond time-shifting by actively performing Peak Shaving. It discharges stored power to cover sudden surges in demand, thereby reducing the enterprise’s maximum recorded consumption (Pmax) and helping the business avoid capacity overrun penalty fees.
Furthermore, modern BESS provides critical operational stability. The system ensures a continuous and stable power supply, with a backup source switchover time of under 20 milliseconds, preventing production equipment from being interrupted during grid instability or sudden blackouts,.
Implementing BESS yields immediate financial returns and enhances competitiveness:
BESS can achieve a significant 20–40% reduction in the total monthly electricity bill for enterprises with suitable load profiles,. Leveraging the current tariff difference, a standard 1MWh BESS system can lead to savings ranging from 150 million to 300 million VND per month. The average payback period (ROI) is generally short, estimated at 3 to 4 years,. Given the expected system lifespan of over 10 years, and up to 15 years with advanced technology, this is a highly sustainable investment.
When integrated with solar power systems, BESS stores the excess power generated during the day for evening use, boosting the self-consumption rate from the typical 30–40% up to 70–80%. This maximizes the return on the renewable energy investment and reduces reliance on the national grid,.
BESS also brings indirect benefits by demonstrating a clear commitment to green energy and meeting increasingly strict ESG requirements, enhancing brand image.
Vietnam is actively pursuing BESS deployment, aligning with national energy goals and technology trends.
Some pioneering providers are deploying advanced Semi-Solid State Battery technology, which offers absolute fire and explosion protection by using a solid electrolyte,. This technology offers a long lifespan of 15 years and over 10,000 charge-discharge cycles, and maintains stable operation even in Vietnam’s hot, humid climate due to its wide temperature tolerance (-30°C to 60°C).
The revised Power Master Plan VIII sets an ambitious national goal of developing 10,000–16,300 MW of BESS capacity by 2030,,. This capacity is essential because the ratio of electricity from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, is rapidly approaching or exceeding the 15% threshold, a point at which international experience deems BESS a mandatory solution for grid stability,.
While deployment is currently constrained by the lack of clear legal frameworks, market mechanisms, and payment rules for ancillary services,, the Electricity Regulatory Authority (Cục Điện lực) is addressing these issues. Draft policies concerning the methodology for calculating BESS power generation prices and support mechanisms for rooftop solar integrated with BESS are expected to be submitted to relevant authorities by November 2025.
BESS represents an intelligent investment, combining clear economic efficiency with environmental responsibility, ensuring energy resilience and enhancing corporate competitiveness.
Source: evn.com; eav.gov.vn; tapchinangluong.vn; etekpower.vn
