VietNamNet Bridge – Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the only electricity wholesale buyer in the country, has promised to buy electricity from domestic sources and gradually reduce the power volume it imports from China.

Dinh Quang Tri, deputy general director of EVN, said that he would cut power imports from China after the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s draft circular was issued on using more electricity from plants that apply renewable energy.

Tri said in order to use more power from domestic small-sized hydropower plants, EVN would consider cutting imports from China.

“Small hydropower plants should have more favorable conditions to join a competitive power-generation market,” he said. “This will allow EVN to mobilize domestic power sources in the most effective way and gradually reduce imports from China.”

“We will make it a priority to buy electricity from small hydropower plants for retail wherever we can, and we will only buy small volumes from China to offset the domestic shortage,” Tri said.

According to Tran Viet Ngai, chair of the Vietnam Energy Association, Vietnam buys only 200 MW of electricity from China every year. Meanwhile, small-scale hydropower plants can provide 4 billion Kwh, or 2 percent of the current total output.

Ngai has suggested evaluating the capacity of small hydropower plants in the northwestern and northeastern provinces of Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Lang Son and Son La to find out how much EVN could buy from domestic sources.

“There is no need to buy electricity from foreign sources once the domestic plants can satisfy the demand,” he said.

The expert went on to say that Vietnam should think of developing wind power plants as a sustainable source of energy for the long term.

He estimates that the power from renewable energy can make up 30-40 percent of the total electricity output.

In 2011 and 2012, many investors, both Vietnamese and foreign, said they would invest in wind power projects after the government released a decision on encouraging such investments.

However, Vietnam still has not made headway in developing wind power. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, investors have registered 50 wind power plants with a total capacity of 4,876 MW, but only three of them, with the capacity of 52 MW, have become operational. The other projects remain stuck, or their investors have given up.

Meanwhile, despite strong commitments by EVN, investors are still doubtful that EVN will fulfill its promise.

EVN has many times faced heavy criticism from the public and domestic power plants for buying electricity from China at high prices and refusing to buy domestic electricity.

The Chinese electricity price is two to three times higher than the price from domestic power plants.

An analyst explained that EVN was in “a dilemma” because of a power import contract signed with China in 2005.

The contract includes provisions on the minimum volume of electricity EVN has to buy each year and specifies the length of time the contract is valid. If EVN breaks the contract, it will have to pay a fine.