Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh released his statement on Oct. 5 on mobilizing electricity which still has no pricing mechanism in Phuoc Minh commune, Thuan Nam district, Ninh Thuan province.

When processing proposals, the ministry is considering the construction of power plants and transmission lines in the region; the electricity contracts signed by the parties; and recognition of business operations by the appropriate bodies to ensure these issues are legally addressed.

In late August, the Electric Power Trading Company under the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) said it would not mobilize power from the part of the 450 MW Trung Nam Thuan Nam power plant that still has not pricing mechanism.

This means that the capacity of 172.12 MW has not been mobilized since September 1.

Responding to questions at the government press conference in September, Vice Minister of Industry and Commerce Do Thang Hai said that in this case the Trung Nam investor had made a mistake. It had not yet completed an official acceptance file for the work as required by law, and that EVN had mobilized electricity for the national grid.

According to Hai, MOIT held a meeting with representatives of EVN and Trung Nam, stating that power mobilization and power trading between the two companies should be through signed supply contracts, taking into account the network transmission capacity and demand at different times, to ensure strict compliance with the law.

On September 2, Ninh Thuan authorities asked MOIT and EVN to continue mobilizing electricity belonging to the part of the project that still does not have a pricing mechanism. The objective is to help the investor to mitigate his difficulties and to ensure the effectiveness of his investment. However, MOIT and EVN did not respond.

On October 4, the provincial authorities sent another document with the same proposal.

In Vietnam, Trung Nam is known as a pioneer in the development of many renewable energy projects.

Regarding the lowest suggested price, 1,678 VND/kwh for 0-100th kwh consumed instead of 0-50th kwh, Ha Dang Son, director of the Energy Research and Green Growth Center, said he still could not not count possible impacts due to lack of latest statistics on the number of households using electricity.

Currently, the price of 1,678 VND per kwh is only applied to customers using less than 50 kwh, while those using 51-100 kwh have to pay 1,734 VND/kwh. With the new system, the price level of 1,678 VND/kwh would also be applied to users from 51 to 100 kWh. Thus, those who use less electricity would get greater benefits.

A report published in 2020 showed that less than 1 million households used 0-50 kWh and 5 million households used 51-100 kWh.

Son thinks MOIT should provide more up-to-date information when opening the designed electricity price systems to public opinion. Experts must now still use the statistics published in 2020 to make suggestions.

Tran Chung