Number of participants in the market increased by 3.5 times

The competitive electricity market in Vietnam has officially operated since 1 July 2012. Up to now, the electricity market is competitive and is going through two stages of development: the Vietnam competitive generation market (VCGM) and the competitive electricity sale market.

In 2012 - when VCGM was officially started in operation, only 31 plants directly participated in bidding in the electricity market, with a total capacity of 9,212MW. Up to now, after 10 years of operation, the number of plants directly involved has increased by 3.5 times (108 medical plants), with the total installed capacity increasing by about 3.35 times (30,940MW), an increase of 13.12%/year in the capacity of plants directly participating in bidding on the electricity market.

The power sources directly participating in bidding on the market are very diverse in types of businesses, from privately-invested plants to the ones in the form of capital contribution, shares, and joint ventures. By June 2022, the number of private enterprises participating in direct bidding in the electricity market was 53 power plants, accounting for 50% of the total number of market participants. This has shown diversity, transparency and fairness for all the types of businesses that the competitive electricity market brings in.

In particular, in addition to the growth in power generation units, the participation in the electricity market by the 5 power corporations has also step by step changed in the electricity procurement playground.

Engineers of the National Power Dispatch System Center making important contributions to the operation of the electricity market

After 10 years of operation, the electricity market has contributed to enhancing transparency in power system operators through the proper pricing mechanism. Previously, the mobilization of the generating units was completely decided by the dispatching level based on the optimization of the whole system, but now, power plants have been proactive in making decisions on the next day's operation plan, the next cycle is related to the up, down mode, grid energization of the units and change in capacity by bidding as regulated. The number of offers/next cycle tends to increase as more and more plants participate in the electricity market; at the same time, plants are also becoming increasingly proactive in updating the actual situation of the units compared to the early stage of market operation.

From 0:00 on September 1, 2020, the National Electricity Dispatch Center System (EVNNLDC) has successfully converted the operating cycle, operating system and operating transaction of the electricity market from 60 minutes to 30 minutes according to as directed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It can be said that, after 10 years of operation, the electricity market has formed a legal system, information technology infrastructure, and human resources to operate the electricity market. Thereby, it could facilitate the capacity to meet the due demands in higher development stages of the market.

evn.com.vn