Household electricity consumption: A study on the role of micro-renewable energy systems in Vietnam

Although nearly all households in Vietnam have connected to the national grid, electricity shortage in the residential sector is still an issue. One measure of residential electricity shortage is the micro-renewable energy system (micro-RES), but little is known about the drivers for household adoption of such system and whether the presence of a micro-RES can help to reduce household energy consumption. This paper examines the characteristics of households that have adopted a micro-RES and investigates whether the presence of micro-RES would result in a decrease in energy demand by using fixed-effects models. Analysis was carried out on the 2016 and 2018 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey data sets. The results show that the micro-RES adopters are likely to have lower educational level, lower income or living conditions, and live in the mountainous regions. Micro-RES adopters are found to spend less on electricity and fuel than the non-adopters and this finding is consistent across households of different income groups. The results also suggest that the support schemes may be beneficial to households adopting micro-RES because they really need it to meet the increasing demand in electricity.