The Minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) December 4 submitted to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for approval a plan on restructuring the country's electricity industry as well as building Vietnam's competitive power generation market, state media reported, citing the ministry's sources.
In order to restructure the national electricity sector, the ministry has suggested dividing EVN-owned power plants into three independent generation companies, and each of them will account about 25 per cent of the nation’s total capacity to avoid the monopoly as EVN currently holds up to 71 per cent of the country’s sum.
The MoIT recommended reduction of EVN’s power distribution companies to between five and seven from the current of 11.
Meanwhile, power purchase companies will operate independently, buy electricity from generation companies and sell it to distributors.
MoIT also proposed to separate strategic hydropower plants such as Hoa Binh, Son La, Ialy, and Tri An from EVN and merge them into a strategic power generation company managed by the ministry.
Under the submitted plan, the ministry suggested applying the cost-based pool scheme (CBP) for electricity pricing, explaining that the model will help domestic power market avoid unexpected price increase while minimizing risks for investors.
Accordingly, all power plants with capacity of 30 MW and upward, except BOT (build-operation-transfer) power plants, will have to offer prices on the market.
The competitive power market will be developed into three phases, including competitive power generation market until 2014, competitive wholesale market from 2015 to 2022, and competitive retail market from 2024 to 2030, said the ministry’s plan.
The ministry will continue streamlining the plan from now until mid-December and will collect public ideas before the government will make the final decision on the plan. (Vietnamnet, Labor)
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