At a workshop to solicit comments on the draft Decree on direct power purchase agreements between power generation entities and customers (DPPA) and the draft Decree on mechanisms to encourage the development of rooftop solar power installed on houses, offices, and industrial parks, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on April 24, many related opinions were exchanged.
The Director General of the Electricity Regulatory Authority, Tran Viet Hoa, said that recently many investors, international organizations, and electricity customers have expressed interest in participating in the DPPA mechanism and hope that the Vietnamese Government will soon issue this mechanism.
According to Mr. Hoa, international consultants conducted a survey of 106 projects with a capacity of 30MW or more (42 solar power projects and 64 wind power projects) in the list of adjusted Power Plan VII. There were 67 projects that responded with the following results: 24 projects (with a capacity of 1,773 MW) wished to participate; 17 projects (with a capacity of 2,836 MW) were considering the conditions of participation, the ability to find and sign contracts with customers, and 26 projects responded that they had no need to participate.
Director General of the Electricity Regulatory Authority Tran Viet Hoa: Many international investors are very interested in the DDPA mechanism.
At the conference, representatives of international organizations and businesses supported the draft Decree on the mechanism for regulating direct power purchase DPPA and the Decree on rooftop solar power and argued that the DPPA mechanism should be issued soon.
Mr. Kim Yong Sup – Deputy General Director of Samsung Vietnam Complex – said that Samsung fully agrees with the opinions of the leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and business representatives about the necessity to issue the DPPA mechanism to businesses soon.
Regarding the mechanism by which generators will sell directly through private lines, Mr. Kim Yong Sup hopes that there will be clearer and more specific guidelines for immediate implementation, without any obstacles or the need to wait for new guidelines. Meanwhile, with the mechanism of buying and selling electricity through the national grid, Samsung hopes that the Ministry of Industry and Trade will consider pricing to ensure fairness and competition among power generation units and customers.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade holds the view that rooftop solar power self-produced and self-consumed when fed into the grid is only purchased at a price of 0 dong.
The representative of the US-ASEAN Business Council in Vietnam – Ms. Bui Thi Diep Lam – said that the Decree is very important for businesses and should not be delayed any further, as it will affect the Government’s foreign direct investment attraction. The Ministry of Industry and Trade should issue it as soon as possible to reassure foreign investors, especially those with new investment plans.
“This will promote renewable energy and mobilize private investment in this sector. We recommend issuing it soon, on the principle of creating openness for all stakeholders, avoiding too much detail. The implementation does not need to be perfect and can be done in a step-by-step process, learning from experience,” said Ms. Lam.
Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien responding to comments from international investors.
Concluding the workshop, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien emphasized that in the case of using the national power grid, the power purchase mechanism DPPA will pay for the customer’s output in two components. The portion of the customer’s consumption supplied by the renewable energy generator will be paid according to the market mechanism, and the remaining portion of the customer’s electricity consumption will be paid according to current regulations. The two policies on DPPA and encouraging the development of rooftop solar power self-produced and self-consumed are completely consistent and do not conflict with each other.
According to Mr. Dien, in the current context, in the context of the conditions of the transmission and distribution system, balancing the source structure, anti-backflow measures, and the solution to buy at a price of 0 dong (in the case of feeding into the national grid) is appropriate, ensuring the prevention of policy exploitation.
“The mechanisms to encourage rooftop solar power of the form self-produced and self-consumed are a breakthrough in the effort to remove legal barriers to the development of electricity sources in the context that a number of specialized legal regulations have not kept pace with reality,” said Mr. Dien.
At a workshop to solicit comments on the draft Decree on direct power purchase agreements between power generation entities and customers (DPPA) and the draft Decree on mechanisms to encourage the development of rooftop solar power installed on houses, offices, and industrial parks, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on April 24, many related opinions were exchanged.
The Director General of the Electricity Regulatory Authority, Tran Viet Hoa, said that recently many investors, international organizations, and electricity customers have expressed interest in participating in the DPPA mechanism and hope that the Vietnamese Government will soon issue this mechanism.
According to Mr. Hoa, international consultants conducted a survey of 106 projects with a capacity of 30MW or more (42 solar power projects and 64 wind power projects) in the list of adjusted Power Plan VII. There were 67 projects that responded with the following results: 24 projects (with a capacity of 1,773 MW) wished to participate; 17 projects (with a capacity of 2,836 MW) considered the conditions of participation, ability to find and sign contracts with customers; and 26 projects responded that they had no need to participate.
Director General of the Electricity Regulatory Authority Tran Viet Hoa: Many international investors are very interested in the DDPA mechanism.
At the conference, representatives of international organizations and businesses supported the draft Decree on the mechanism for regulating direct power purchase DPPA and the Decree on rooftop solar power and argued that the DPPA mechanism should be issued soon.
Mr. Kim Yong Sup – Deputy General Director of Samsung Vietnam Complex – said that Samsung fully agrees with opinions of the leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and business representatives about the necessity of issuing the DPPA mechanism to businesses soon.
