A floating solar plant in the southern province of Binh Thuan. (Photo: VNA) Investors said they had submitted documents and requested to participate innegotiations with the Power Trading Company. The process had been said to bevery slow due to a lack of guidelines and price calculations and negotiations.
In addition, numerous submitted forms and documents had not been approved.A
In order to expedite the process and quickly connect renewable energy sourcesto the national grid, investors urged Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to instructthe Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to issue detailed guidelines forprice negotiations in a timely manner.
They also called for renewable projects that meet operational and technicalrequirements to be connected to the national grid in the meantime.
According to a proposal by the investors, there are several courses of actionto resolve the ongoing issues.
First, EVN will pay investors at 90% of the ceiling price set bythe ministry's Decision 21 until a final price can be successfully negotiated.
Second, EVN will pay investors at 50% of the ceiling price set by GovernmentDecision 21 and start a complaint process. Once price negotiation is completed,EVN will make a full payment at negotiated prices for the entire period,starting from when projects began generating power.
Third, in the event temporary prices are set as low as 50% of the ceilingprice, it should not be counted towards the 20-year official power purchaseagreement between EVN and the investors.
Investors said they recommend a government leader preside over a meeting amongthe MoIT, EVN, other ministries and representatives sent by investors to hammerout a solution to connect renewable projects to the national grid as soon aspossible.
According to the investors, the options were based on actual investment costdata, the situation of the projects and the investors' financial capacity. Theyare also willing to collaborate and coordinate with the ministry and othergovernmental agencies to produce and provide any and all documents required forprice negotiations.
The MoIT's Decision 21 stipulated ceiling prices for renewable projects asfollows: 1,184.90 VND per kWh for ground-mounted solar projects, 1,508.27 VNDper kWh for floating solar projects, 1,587.12 VND per kWh for onshore windprojects and 1,815.95 VND per kWh for offshore wind projects.
In an earlier development, EVN proposed a scheme to pay investorsa temporary price at 50% of what was set in Decision 21 while waiting for pricenegotiations to be completed.
In response, the group of investors said in the event of no recourse anddeduction from the Power Purchase Agreement the proposed temporary price will,in effect, act as the official price, which is completely against the government'spolicy of promoting renewable energy development and the government'scommitments to carbon emissions reduction through renewable energy development./.
VNA
