Some projects delayed for one year
According to a report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) at recent National Steering Committee on implementation of key and urgent electricity projects under Power development plan VII, MOIT outlined a lot of projects facing difficulties in procedures of converting forest land which need to be promptly reviewed by the authorities.
In particular, in the 500kV transmission line project connecting to BOT Nghi Son 2 Thermal Power plant, the site clearance is very slow, especially there has been no policy made on the conversion of forest land use purpose and the resettlement so far.
On November 20th 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) sent a letter to People’s Committee of Nghe An on changing forest use purpose. On November 27th 2019, Nghe An PPC sent a letter to assign its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to host and coordinate the related units in presenting opinions from the Ministries and promptly completing application forms for changing forest land use purpose. Currently, the Departments and related units are completing the documents to report and consult the PPC for further reporting it to relevant authorities.
Many power transmission projects cannot be constructed due to procedures in forestland conversion
According to MOIT, if the project is not completed by June 2020, the electricity sector shall compensate for the investor of the BOT Nghi Son 2 Thermal Power plant. Therefore, there is a need for fierce participation of relevant authorities as well as Provincial People’s Committees of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An where the lines go through.
A number of power grid projects to release capacity in the Northwest, such as the Muong Te 220kV substation, the Muong Te – Lai Chau 220kV power station are also entangled in the conversion of forest land, causing difficulties in the release of small hydropower resources.
In terms of Huoi Quang - Nghia Lo and Nghia Lo - Viet Tri 220kV transmission line project serving the power capacity transmission of the Northwestern power plants, the Provincial People’s Committees of Yen Bai and Son La have submitted documents to the Prime Minister proposing for change of forest use purpose. Due to the difficulty in converting forest land, the design of the project needs to be revised accordingly. Therefore, these two projects did not meet the commencement progress in the fourth quarter of 2019 as planned, but had to be delayed to the fourth quarter of 2020 and expected to be completed in 2022.
Most notably, the delay of Thuong Kon Tum - Quang Ngai 220kV line due to lengthy procedures for conversion of forest land use that prevent the project from being completed and energized in 2019 (although the completion is planned in Q2/2019), seriously affecting the progress of generation of Thuong Kon Tum hydroelectricity. Therefore, Provincial People’s Committee of Quang Ngai should act drastically in the site clearance.
The difficulties should be removed soon
As the unit on behalf of EVNNPT directly managing and operating many power transmission projects, Mr. Nguyen Duc Tuyen – Director of the Central Power Project Management Board (CPMB) said: It is true that the procedure for applying for change in transfer forest use purpose, especially the procedure for transferring purpose of all kind of natural forests to project land is very complex and must be appraised and reviewed by many related authorities, which take long to seek for approval on investment and construction of project.
The Vung Ang - Quang Trach - Doc Soi - Pleiku 2 500kV transmission line still faces some problems related to the procedures for forestland conversion, which need strong involvement by local authorities.
Facing these problems, in the recent report of National Steering Committee on power development on 31st January 2020, MOIT proposed that the Government should consider and issue a directive to strengthen state management on the responsibility of local authorities in the implementation of site clearance and compensation for power projects. The Government should direct the Ministries and other local authorities to focus on removing difficulties and simplifying administrative procedures site clearance and compensation, especially procedures related to changing purpose of forest land use for power projects. The Prime Minister instructed the Provincial People’s Committees of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An to focus drastically on resolving issues related to site clearance of 500kV transmission line project connecting Nghi Son 2 BOT Thermal Power plant to ensure the completion of project before June 2020.
In addition, MOIT recommended MARD to instruct specialized agencies to simplify and shorten administrative procedures to solve problems of change in forestland purpose and create opportunities for localities and investors to promptly implement the project to ensure the required progress, quality and efficiency of investment.
MOIT proposes the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) to direct specialized agencies to accelerate the appraisal of environmental impact assessment reports of the project, especially thermopower transmission lines. MONRE should direct functional departments to provide clear, specific and unified guidance to the investors on application for certificate granting.
In addition, MOIT proposes People’s Committee of Cities/Provinces to thoroughly solve existing issues related to site clearance and compensation for power projects. People’s Committee of Cities/Provinces should direct their localities to closely coordinate with investors in solving definitely and drastically problems in connection with site clearance and assign their Department of Construction and Department of Natural Resources and Environment arrange detailed locations of 220, 100kV substations and transmission lines in line with the approved power plan into local 5-year and annual land- use plans, creating favourable conditions for investors to shorten the time of agreement on the locations for substations and transmission lines.