A solar power project with a total capacity of 450MW in Ninh Thuan province (Photo: sggp.org.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Manyprivate enterprises said they want to invest in building renewable energyinfrastructure, but Vietnam still lacks mechanisms to encourage privateenterprises to participate in this activity.
Nguyen Tam Tien, General Directorof the Trung Nam Group, the first and only enterprise so far allowed to investin national grid transmission infrastructure, highly appreciated thePolitburo’s Resolution No 55-NQ/TW on Vietnam’s strategic orientations fornational energy development through 2030 because it encourages privateenterprises to invest in building renewable energy infrastructure.
In addition, Tien told theVoice of Vietnam (VoV) that according to the resolution, Vietnam would eliminatemonopolies and barriers for the private sector joining the energy sector,including in the electricity transmission stage.
However, Tien said privateenterprises need to have specific regulations for investment in powertransmission infrastructure.
He has also proposed that Vietnamshould have a pricing mechanism for power businesses to take bank loans becausethe banks need those businesses to ensure power consumption while theelectricity transmission system is not available to connect from the alternativepower projects to the national power grid.
"The Ministry of Industryand Trade (MoIT) and Vietnam Electricity (EVN) must have this pricingmechanism," Tien said.
Pham Dinh Thang, General Directorof the Asia Industrial Technology Joint Stock Company, one of the leadingcompanies manufacturing equipment for electrical systems in Vietnam, said thatVietnamese enterprises can apply new technology for producing electricequipment, however, core equipment is still produced by leading brands in theworld.
The domestic support industryhas not been able to meet the needs of industrial production, especially forthe electricity industry, he said.
"The Government needs tosupport domestic manufacturing enterprises in this industry, such as mechanismsfor capital mobilisation and tax," Thang said.
Le Duy Hai, Director of theCorporate Banking Division under the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank forIndustry and Trade, said that in the past two years, renewable energy emergedas a key investment channel for the bank. It also is expected to continueattracting investment in the near future.
However, when conductingevaluation and investment research, the bank realised that some renewableenergy projects in Vietnam are still risky.
The infrastructure, includingelectric lines and transformer stations, is not synchronised, so many projectsfail to generate their full capacity on the national electricity grid, he said.
The electricity industry andthe authorities need to have more specific and long-term mechanisms to encouragethe private sector to invest in renewable energy projects.
To encourage private investmentin transmission infrastructure, Nguyen Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of the MoIT’sDepartment of Electricity and Renewable Energy, said the ministry is amending theElectricity Law to clearly separate the investment scopes for privateenterprises. The amendment of the Electricity Law also promotes the developmentof the electricity market.
The Public Private Partnership(PPP Law) effective from 2021 is also a legal framework to allow privateinvestors to invest in power production and transmission projects, he said.
According to Resolution 55, by2030, total power generation capacity is expected to increase to 125-130GW andelectricity output is estimated to rise to 550-600 billion KWh.
Share of renewable energysources in total primary energy production will be increased to 15-20 percentby 2030 and 25-30 percent by 2045.
The resolution sets the goal toturn Vietnam into one of the four ASEAN countries with the highest power supplyreliability and one of three ASEAN countries with best electricity accessindex./.
VNA
