A solar farm in Binh Thuan Province. Several investors in solar power projects have sent a joint petition to the prime minister seeking approval for the feed-in tariff program with purchase prices for ground-mounted solar power not lower than VND1,620 per kilowatt hour - PHOTO: VNA

Several investors in solar power projects have sent a joint petition to the prime minister seeking approval for the feed-in tariff (FIT) program with purchase prices for ground-mounted solar power not lower than VND1,620, or 7.09 U.S. cents, per kilowatt hour and those for solar power over water at VND1,750, or 7.69 U.S. cents, per kilowatt hour.

The investors told Tuoi Tre newspaper that as many as 154 solar power projects with a combined capacity of 10,600 megawatts (MW) have been added to the national power scheme to date, of which 127 had signed power purchase agreements.

Of the total 127 projects, up to 89 solar power facilities with a total capacity of roughly 4,530 MW have been put into commercial operation, generating 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity each day.

Many others that are under construction or have signed power purchase agreements are waiting for new power purchase prices to be assigned, the investors stated, adding that over 250 projects have been submitted for appraisal since 2017.

However, many investors complained that they are facing obstacles related to mechanisms, policies and delays in the rollout of investment procedures.

In particular, the investors underlined several bottlenecks, especially Decision 11 on power purchase prices. They pointed out that even though the decision had expired in early July, no new decisions have been made, hindering investors from deploying their investment plans.

Apart from these bottlenecks and delays in handling the applications for projects under the national power scheme since May 2018, the flood of projects being proposed simultaneously have made it difficult to assess the reception capacity of the national power grid.

As such, the investors proposed the Government issue a new decision on power purchase prices to replace the invalid decision as soon as possible, so that they can base their projects on the new legal framework.

In addition, the investors suggested the Government provide detailed guidance on planning and bidding steps. It is necessary to create a plan for the shift to the public tender program.

Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade had told the authorities of cities and provinces and Vietnam Electricity Group to stop proposing solar power projects under the FIT program. Instead, new projects will be carried out through public tenders. SGT