Vietnam pilots first phase of energy market experiment

July 02, 2011 | 14:20

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The Ministry of Industry and Trade launched the competitive power generation market on July 1 with the participation of 48 power plants.

Work continues on developing the national power grid

The operation of the pilot energy market is aimed to test the legal framework, technical facilities and workforce training in order to audit the market’s effects, said Dang Huy Cuong, director of the ministry’s Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (ERAV), at the launch ceremony.

The experiment will help the country well prepare for a comprehensive power generation market, he claimed.

The test market will be operated during three periods with the first beginning on July 1 while the ministry drafts the schedule for the following periods based on results of the first phase.

He noted that during the pilot period, the market would remain under the government regulation.

From July 1, 48 out of 73 power plants with a capacity of 30MW or higher are required to join the market, offering their power prices on the market. The figure is expected to rise to 55 plants by the end of this year.

The power plants that will take part in the first phase account for an estimated 61 per cent of the national power grid.

A power trading company, instead of the investors, will tender the Phu My 3 and Phu My 2.2 power plants under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) power plants.

National major hydropower plants including Son La, Hoa Binh and Ialy will not take part in the market and will continue to be managed by the government. These plants will operate to help regulate floods and irrigation, in addition to power generation.

The Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN)’s power plants that do not join the market will be rearranged into independent power generation corporations under the management of EVN for the short term.

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