Regarding concentrating solar power projects, MOIT still has not clearly shown the exact time to start projects and implementation roadmaps.

MOIT cited instructions by the government standing committee shown in Notice No 64 released by the Government Office in May 2023 as saying that the implementation roadmap of the projects which have been approved by agencies will be considered when drawing up the program on Plan 8 implementation, and that electricity purchase prices will be determined based on the principle of harmonizing benefits and sharing risks.

Government inspectors in April 2023 also released the conclusion of the inspection about the implementation of laws and the policies on managing and implementing Plan 8, as well as the building of power works. However, the Prime Minister to date has not released instructions related to the conclusion.

Also, in the Government Office’s Notice No 453 dated November 3, 2023, the Prime Minister requested localities throughout the country to make detailed proposals on the lists of projects, including transitional projects, and take responsibility for the proposals.

Transitional projects are understood as projects completed after the date when the FIT (feed in tariff) mechanism expired, while no new pricing scheme has been fixed.

The document said the projects, including concentrating solar power projects thar have no violations in business, technical factors and investment efficiency, will be checked and updated on the implementation plan. If violations are found in these projects, individual responsibilities will be determined and handled in accordance with the laws, and the projects will only be deployed after clear conclusions about inspections are released.

Meanwhile, according to MOIT, no city/province has made firm commitments about violations because they lack information about the investment effectiveness of projects, and electricity purchase prices. Therefore, there is no sufficient information to update projects in the implementation plan.

For the time being, MOIT has asked the Prime Minister to approve the Plan 8 implementation plan without the list of concentrating solar power projects. It also proposed that the provinces that have solar power works ask competent agencies to check the projects and report to MOIT within three months after the day the plan was approved.

According to MOIT, provincial authorities have registered 779 small-scale hydropower projects with the total capacity of 8,331MW, 651 onshore wind power projects, (74,609MW), 73 waste-to-electricity projects (1,484MW) and 74 biomass projects (2,711MW).

Fifteen out of 61 cities/provinces which have submitted reports did not register renewable power projects. Of the other 46 localities, only 11 have lists of projects and power capacity in conformity with the scale allocated to them.

Meanwhile, other localities have proposed a number of power plants and capacity much higher than expected.

The capacity of small-scale hydropower projects, for example, is twice as much as planned, while onshore wind power is 4.2 times higher, waste-to-electricity 1.3 times and biomass 3.7 times.

Besides, the proposals by provincial authorities do not contain sufficient information. and the projects cannot satisfy the criteria set for every type of power. Some localities have asked to legalize the calculation capacity for every city/province, so that they have foundation to plan, assess and draw up lists of projects.

For these reasons, MOIT said it still cannot build up a list of renewable power generation projects as requested in Notice No453.

Also in the report submitted to the Prime Minister, MOIT suggested choosing Quynh Lap or Nghi Son for a place to develop LNG-fired electricity. 

The consultancy unit for drawing Plan 8 has researched places for an LNG-fired project and found that the two places have good economic and technical conditions which can satisfy the requirements for setting up an LNG power plant with the capacity of 1,500MW.

However, the consultants think that Quynh Lap has better conditions for setting up the plant, as the construction site is ready (it was previously reserved for Quynh Lap coal-fired power plant).

Many investors, both Vietnamese and foreign, want to inject money into renewable power projects, but they still need more time to consider electricity pricing and sale mechanisms.

MOIT in late October said when it surveyed 95 renewable power projects in May 2022, it found that 24 projects wanted to sell electricity to consumers not via EVN (Electricity of Vietnam), and 17 other investors were considering signing electricity sale contracts directly with clients.

Luong Bang