Recently, Vietnam Electricity (EVN) sent a document to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) to recommend the Ministry soon issue guidelines for the development of RSP but not generating electricity onto the grid.
Previously, EVN made and reported a number of documents to the Prime Minister on the capacity of supplying power nationwide and adjusting the load in the period of 2023 - 2025, reported it to the Deputy Prime Minister on the situation of production, business and construction investment activities of EVN, reporting it to MOIT on the emergency situation of power supply. In these documents, EVN has proposed the Prime Minister and MOIT solutions to ensure power supply, including the proposal to develop RSP sources in the North for the on-site self-use need (not generating power onto the grid - zero export) by electricity users.
On May 15, 2023, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 500/QD-TTg approving the national power development master plan for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. At point b, Clause 1, Section III. The development plan clearly states: “Give priority and build breakthrough policies to promote the RSP development for people and construction sites, especially in areas at risk of power shortage such as the North and self-production, self-consumption of solar power. From now to 2030, the capacity of these power sources is estimated to increase by 2,600 MW. This type of power source is prioritized for development with unlimited capacity, provided that the price is reasonable and the existing power grid is utilized, without having to upgrade it.
EVN respectfully requests MOIT to soon issue guidelines for the development of RSP not generating power onto the grid (zero export) for implementation.
There is a big potential for RSP in the North:
According to experts, the Northern provinces still hold a lot of potential for solar power development, especially RSP, with the average daily radiation intensity of the year in the Northern region of about 4 kWh/m2/day, the number of sunny hours in a year is about 1,500 - 1,700 hours. Meanwhile, the cost of solar power generation is also decreasing rapidly.
RSP is a distributed and convenient power source for local consumption. In addition to the roofs of households, the ones of agencies, offices, schools, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, commercial centers, factories in industrial parks, etc., are also feasible places for installation.
Operating the power system in the hot summer of 2023 will be very difficult:
It is forecasted that the intense, and record-breaking heat will continue in the coming months, causing the high increase in demand for electricity.
Operating the power system during the peak months of heat (May, June, and July) will be very difficult, especially since the northern power system has to face the situation of not being able to cover the peak load of the system with the largest shortfall capacity ranging from 1,600MW to 4,900MW.
By 12 May 2023, 13 out of 47 large hydropower reservoirs had reached the dead water level or the near-dead water level, and most of the remaining hydropower reservoirs had water levels much lower than the one specified in the Procedure of reservoir/inter-reservoir regulation. Meanwhile, the supply of fuel (coal, oil, gas) for power production does not meet operational requirements.