Development of zero-emission microgrids for Vietnam's offshore islands: A case study of Phu Quy island
Abstract
In Vietnam’s outlying islands, the high investment costs associated with building transmission infrastructure from the mainland have prevented a comprehensive solution to electricity access. Therefore, developing independent island microgrids is a practical and necessary approach. This model creates opportunities for developers in emerging energy technologies, thereby helping to advance socio-economic development and improving living conditions for island communities. To assess its feasibility, a case study was conducted for Phu Quy island using simulations of a microgrid architecture integrating hydrogen and energy storage.
References
Thủ tướng Chính phủ, “Điều chỉnh Quy hoạch phát triển điện lực quốc gia thời kỳ 2021 - 2030, tầm nhìn đến năm 2050”, Quyết định số 768/QĐ-TTg ngày 15/4/2025.
Thủ tướng Chính phủ, “Chiến lược phát triển năng lượng hydrogen của Việt Nam đến năm 2030, tầm nhìn đến năm 2050”, Quyết định số 165/QĐ-TTg ngày 7/2/2024.
Thủ tướng Chính phủ, “Quy hoạch tổng thể về năng lượng quốc gia thời kỳ 2021 - 2030, tầm nhìn đến năm 2050”, Quyết định 893/QĐ-TTg ngày 26/7/2023.
Thủ tướng Chính phủ, “Đề án triển khai Tuyên bố chính trị thiết lập quan hệ đối tác chuyển đổi năng lượng công bằng”, Quyết định số 1009/QĐ-TTg ngày 31/8/2023.
Nguyễn Hồng Việt Phương, Nguyễn Bình Nam, Huỳnh Văn Luật, Võ Quang Hải, Lê Quốc Cường, và Trương Đình Minh Đức, “Chiến lược điều khiển công suất của hệ thống lưu trữ pin cho huyện đảo Phú Quý”, Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ - Đại học Đà Nẵng, Tập 19, Số 4.2, 2021.
Hang Thi-Thuy Le, Eleonora Riva Sanseverino, Ninh Quang Nguyen, Maria Luisa Di Silvestre, Salvatore Favuzza, Binh Doan Van, and Rossano Musca, “Critical assessments of the potential for integrating renewable energy into isolated grids on Vietnamese islands: The case of the An-Binh grid”, Energies, Volume 16, Issue 5, 2023. DOI: 10.3390/en16052475.
U.S. Department of Energy, “Microgrid overview”, 1/2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-02/46060_DOE_GDO_Microgrid_Overview_Fact_Sheet_RELEASE_508.pdf.
Kaitlyn Bunker, Stephen Doig, Kate Hawley, and Jesse Morris, “Renewable microgrids: Profiles from islands and remote communities across the globe”, 11/2015. [Online]. Available: https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Islands_Microgrid_Profiles_Islands_Global_Remote_Communities_CaseStudy_2015.pdf.
International Energy Agency, “The future of hydrogen: Seizing today’s opportunities”, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/9e3a3493-b9a6-4b7d-b499-7ca48e357561/The_Future_of_Hydrogen.pdf.
Fabian Radner, Nadine Strobl, Markus Köberl, Franz Winkler, Klaus Esser, and Alexander Trattner, “Off-grid hydrogen production: Analysing hydrogen production and supply costs considering country-specifics and transport to Europe”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Volume 80, pp. 1197-1209, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.07.142.
International Renewable Energy Agency, “Hydrogen: A renewable energy perspective”, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.h2it.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IRENA_Hydrogen_2019.pdf.
Furat Dawood, GM Shafiullah, and Martin Anda, “Stand-Alone microgrid with 100% renewable energy: A case study with hybrid solar PV-battery-hydrogen”, Sustainability, Volume 12, Issue 5, 2020. DOI: 10.3390/su12052047.
Davide Trapani, Paolo Marocco, Domenico Ferrero, Karen Byskov Lindberg, Kyrre Sundseth, and Massimo Santarelli. “The potential of hydrogen-battery storage systems for a sustainable renewable-based electrification of remote islands in Norway”, Journal of Energy Storage, Volume 75, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2023.109482.
Qi Li, Miloud Bessafi, and Peng Li, “Intermittency study of global solar radiation under a tropical climate: case study on Reunion island”, Scientific Reports, Volume 11, Issue 1, pp. 1 - 14, 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91639-9.
European Regional Development Fund, “Mafate micro grid project - ERDF Project 2019-2022 - Reunion island HEPMAD 2019”. [Online]. Available: https://www.lupm.in2p3.fr/users/qcd/talk-hepmad19/francou.pdf.
Qi Li, Miloud Bessafi, and Peng Li, “Mapping prediction of surface solar radiation with linear regression models: Case study over reunion island”, Atmosphere, Volume 14, Issue 9, 2023. DOI: 10.3390/atmos14091331.
Qi Li, Miloud Bessafi, and Peng Li, "Intermittency study of global solar radiation under a tropical climate: case study on reunion island”, Scientific Reports, Volume 11, Issue 1, pp. 1 - 14, 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91639-9.
Davide Beretta, Philippe Moçotéguy, Matthieu Limagne, and Jean-Emmanuel Boucher, “A 100% renewable isolated μ-grid in Mafate”, CIRED 2018 Ljubljana Workshop, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 7 - 8 June 2018.
Energy storage Europe Association, “EDF stores renewable energy with batteries and hydrogen to make an isolated village completely energy autonomous”, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://ease-storage.eu/news/edf-stores-renewable-energy-with-batteries-and-hydrogen-to-make-an-isolated-village-completely-energy-autonomous/.
Weather Spark, “Climate and average weather year round in calistoga, California, United States”. [Online]. Available: https://weatherspark.com/y/590/Average-Weather-in-Calistoga-California-United-States-Year-Round.
Jessica Flores and Julie Johnson, “Pickett fire napa county: Nearly 4,000 acres burned as smoke fouls north bay air quality”, 2025 [Online]. Available: https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/pickett-fire-napa-calistoga-size-air-quality-20872590.php.
Energy Vault, “Calistoga resiliency center project”, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.energyvault.com/projects/calistoga.
Shark Bay World Heritage Area, “Climate”. [Online]. Available: https://www.sharkbay.org/about/climate/.
Solarquotes, Solar Power, and Battery Systems, “Denham, WA, 6537”. [Online]. Available: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/location/denham-6537-wa/.
Climate-Data, “Denham climate (Australia): Data and graphs for weather & climate in Denham”. [Online]. Available: https://en.climate-data.org/oceania/australia/western-australia/denham-25872/.
Your Investment Property Magazine, “Denham, 6537: Market report”. [Online]. Available: https://www.yourinvestmentpropertymag.com.au/top-suburbs/wa/6537-denham.
Horizon Power, “Denham hydrogen demonstration project: Construction and commissioning report”, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://arena.gov.au/assets/2024/06/PUBLIC-Denham-H2-Demo-Cons-and-Comm-Report-1.pdf.
Quynh T. Tran, Kevin Davies, and Saeed Sepasi, “Isolation microgrid design for remote areas with the integration of renewable energy: A case study of Con Dao island in Vietnam”, Clean Technologies, Volume 3, Issue 4, pp. 804 - 820, 2021. DOI: 10.3390/cleantechnol3040047.
Rainer Brohm, “A market survey and stakeholder mapping of the Vietnamese solar energy sector”, 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.esp.org.vn/wp-content/uploads/Framework-Assessment-for-the-Promotion-of-Solar-Energy-in-Vietnam-1.pdf.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “Assessment of wind energy technical potential”, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2025-09/print_assessment_of_wind_energy_technical_potential_justified.pdf.
Nguyễn Hoàng Phương, Võ Viết Cường, Nguyễn Ngọc Âu, và Trần Thái An, “Phương thức vận hành mới hệ thống phát điện diesel - gió cho đảo Phú Quý”, Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ - Đại học Đà Nẵng, Tập 19, Số 5.1, 2021.
Trần Quang Năng và Trần Thị Thanh Hải, “Đánh giá tiềm năng tài nguyên năng lượng gió mực 100 m trên lãnh thổ Việt Nam”, Tạp chí Khoa học Biến đổi Khí hậu, Số 33, trang 12 - 23, 2025. DOI: 10.55659/2525-2496/33.110635.
EVN, “Technology application in power grid operation on Phu Quy island district”, 2023.
EVN, “Workshop design - operate - automate power systems for sustainable energy transition", 2023 .
EVN. “Báo cáo kết quả thực hiện kế hoạch năm 2023 mục tiêu, nhiệm vụ kế hoạch năm 2024”, 2023.
Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), “Energy storage for mini grids: Status and projections of battery deployment”, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.esmap.org/Energy_Storage_for_Mini_Grids.
Mini-Grids Partnership (MGP) , “State of the global mini-grids market report 2024”, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://minigrids.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SOTM-Report-2024_EN_vFc.pdf.
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), “Renewable power generation costs in 2024”, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.irena.org/Publications/2025/Jun/Renewable-Power-Generation-Costs-in-2024.
International Energy Agency (IEA), “Global hydrogen review 2024”. [Online]. Available: https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/89c1e382-dc59-46ca-aa47-9f7d41531ab5/GlobalHydrogenReview2024.pdf.
U.S. Department of Energy, “Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies office multi-year program plan”, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/hfto-mypp-fuel-cell-technologies.pdf.
Andrew Burke, Joan Ogden, and Lewis Fulton, “Hydrogen storage and transport: Technologies and costs”, 2024 [Online]. Available: https://escholarship.org/content/qt83p5k54m/qt83p5k54m_noSplash_8bb1326c13cfb9aa3d0d376ec26d3e06.pdf?t=s9oa2u.
1. The Author assigns all copyright in and to the article (the Work) to the Petrovietnam Journal, including the right to publish, republish, transmit, sell and distribute the Work in whole or in part in electronic and print editions of the Journal, in all media of expression now known or later developed.
2. By this assignment of copyright to the Petrovietnam Journal, reproduction, posting, transmission, distribution or other use of the Work in whole or in part in any medium by the Author requires a full citation to the Journal, suitable in form and content as follows: title of article, authors’ names, journal title, volume, issue, year, copyright owner as specified in the Journal, DOI number. Links to the final article published on the website of the Journal are encouraged.
