The conference was organized by the Committee for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) on the morning of December 12 in Hanoi. Chairman of the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises Nguyen Hoang Anh chaired the conference.
Speaking at this conference, Mr. Tran Dinh Nhan – President and CEO of EVN stated that despite many difficulties in 2022, EVN has made efforts to secure sufficient electricity supply for all post-pandemic socio-economic recovery, development and people's life needs. However, in 2022, input costs for electricity generation have increased dramatically. Typically, oil prices have risen by several dozen percent, gas prices "followed" oil prices, while coal prices have soared by 600% compared to the beginning of 2021; Meanwhile, electricity prices have remained stable since 2019. Due to the combination of the above factors, EVN's financial situation in 2022 and in the future will be confronted with many difficulties.
Mr. Tran Dinh Nhan – EVN’s President and CEO speaking at the conference
According to the leader of EVN, the failure of keeping a financial balance shall pose a threat of losing financial resources for EVN’s operations; consequently a risk of not having adequate resources for payment to electricity sellers in the near future. As a result, the credit rating of EVN will be downgraded; borrowing from banks to implement power investment projects will be extremely difficult. This situation will seriously affect national energy security. Therefore, in order to effectively contribute to the socio-economic recovery and development program, EVN proposes applying market mechanisms to electricity prices, accordingly when input costs rise, electricity prices will rise and vice versa, in a timely manner by an automatic mechanism, similar to the petrol price adjustment mechanism.
Besides, as an enterprise playing a major role in electricity supply, EVN proposes that the Government consider assigning important power generation projects to EVN and power generation corporations in order to ensure energy security. At the same time, it is recommended that the Government should have mechanisms and policies so that power generation and power grid projects having national security significance in the list of the Government’s priorities can be financed under ODA loans which then will be re-lent to EVN with no credit risks incurred.
EVN also recommends the competent authorities approve Master Plan VIII in an early manner, to serve as a legal basis for EVN as well as investors to deploy power generation and grid projects to ensure the electricity supply in the coming years.