EVNFinance: Growth Target Associated with Safe System

EVNFinance was established 3 years ago with the goal of managing capital, arranging money and providing financial services for units of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN). EVNFinance has given loans to EVN’s outstanding projects such as Son La electricity plant, national power transmission project, and the project for distributing electricity. The highlight is that EVNFinance has been and continues arranging capital from domestic and foreign resources to finance large-scale projects, including Trung Son hydropower, Vinh Tan thermal-electricity, Sprepok 4a hydropower and Phu Lac 1, 2 wind power projects. To learn more about activities of EVNFinance, Vietnam Business Forum interviewed MsCao Thi Thu Ha, Deputy General Director ofEVNFinance. Quynh Mai reports.

 

Foreign organizations and investment funds have currently pushed up approaches to EVNFinance, showing their interest in investing in electricity projects such as hydropower and wind power plants. Coming to EVNFinance, they expect EVNFinance to support and consult them in participating in electricity projects through various forms such as contributing capital, buying shares, or becoming strategic partners. Foreign investors’ behaviour shows their positive thinking about power source projects in Vietnam due to the fact that the Government has currently paid much attention to the electricity price mechanism, creating favourable conditions for both investors and electricity consumers. These are detailed in Circular 05/2011/TT-BCT of February 25^th 2011, regulating electricity prices in 2011 and guiding implementation; Decision 37/2011/QD-TTG of June 29^th on mechanisms supporting wind power projects; and Circulars on operating a competitive electricity market.

 

As a financial institute, EVNFinance’s cooperation with foreign organizations concentrates on raising and arranging capital for electricity projects, bond underwritings, bond investments, investing in projects of electricity resources, and development collaborations on projects of clean energy. As a unit of the electricity industry, EVNFinance has the advantage of understanding other units, providing them with diversified and flexible services. In a project, we support both project owners and foreign partners with many services such as arranging capital, developing CDM, and effectively managing capital flows. EVNFinance has successfully arranged capital and managed money which is then loaned for electricity projects through foreign capital resources, and has collaborated with SMBC, ADB, KFW, and WB. We also care for and push up supporting foreign investors to invest in electricity projects. At this moment, we are consulting and arranging several partners into small electricity projects of under 30MW capacity. We are actively searching for opportunities to invest in clean energy projects such as wind power, hydropower of over 30MW capacity and other projects in order to arrange for foreign partners who want to invest in those projects.

 

Besides services mentioned above, EVNFinance has also backed foreign investors to invest and develop projects of clean energy and to buy emission reduction certificates: As for Denmark, we have cooperated with the Embassy of Denmark and Dong Energy to organize an introduction seminar themed “Opportunities of developing CDM in the field of electricity and energy” with the participation of EVN, electricity companies and project owners in the field of electricity and energy, in order to improve their understanding of clean development mechanism and climate change. EVNFinance and Dong Energy collaborated to survey and assess the feasibility of CDM in Phu Lac 1 wind power project (24MW). Denmark’s government also helped train EVNFinance’s staff in the technology of using clean energy, renewable energy and a course on the carbon trading market held in Copenhagen, Denmark. EVNFinance is also in cooperation with other foreign partners such as EDFT of French Energy Group, Perenia of Australia, and Equis of Singapore to support them in investing in and developing CDM and buying Vietnam’s emission reduction certificates in the field of clean energy after registering successfully with the United Nations. The number of partnership projects has reached over 20.

 

EVNFinance is determined to achieve its growth target, confirm its vital role in arranging and managing capital of EVN and its units, create and develop a system of efficient partners and customers, upgrade its position and image in domestic financial markets, step by step integrate with international markets, establish and operate a modern financial institution based on advanced technology systems, pursue the customer-and-profit-centred principals, and ensure professional operations, efficiency and sustainability.