EVN to be Separated into Five Power Corps

The Vietnamese Prime Minister has requested that the state-run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) separate into five independent corporations to distribute electricity in the North, the Central region, the South, Hanoi and in Ho Chi Minh City, in a bid to restructure the national power sector.

 

Vietnam’s sole electricity distributor EVN is responsible for submitting its establishment plan for five corporations to the PM for consideration in the third quarter this year.

 

The PM also asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the Ministry of Finance (MoF), and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) to set up a power adjustment mechanism in line with the market mechanism.

 

The MoIT is in charge of checking on the implementation of underway power plants as well as seeking investors for new power projects with priority given to EVN, the state-run oil monopoly PetroVietnam Group, and the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin).

 

According to the master plan for Vietnam’s electricity market development over the next 20 years, which was approved by the government in Feb 2006, the market will develop in three phases. A competitive power generation market is slated to be developed in the 2005-2014 period.

 

Between 2015 and 2022, the market will operate under the wholesale business model. The last phase will feature a competitive retail market after 2022, with a pilot period from 2022 to 2024 and a fully constituted competitive retail market will be applied across the country after 2024. (Vietnam & World Economy, Vietnam Law)