Reporter: What method has the Ministry of Industry and Trade prepared to mobilize power source during the hot season of 2018, Sir?
Mr. Dinh The Phuc - Deputy Director of Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam – Photo: Huyen Thuong
Mr. Dinh The Phuc: Since the end of 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Trade promulgated Decision No. 4830/QD-BCT dated December 27th, 2017, approving the plan for power supply and system operation, including the plan of mobilizing power plants in the dry season and during the year 2018.
Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam works with Vietnam Electricity and other related units every month to review the power supply plan of next month. According to the monitoring data of Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam, accumulating by the end of April 2018, the power demand this year had been increased by 11.3% over the same period last year and 0.5% higher than the forecast figure at the beginning of the year.
Based on the situation of power supply, Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam submitted the plan to the Minister of Industry and Trade for promulgating Official dispatch No. 2530/BCT-DTDL dated April 3rd, 2018, directing the following groups: Vietnam Electricity, Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam), Vietnam National Coal – Mineral Industries Group (VinaComin) to prepare the solutions for closely following the growth of power load, hydrological conditions, ensuring sufficient supply of coal and gas for power generation, ensuring the availability of power sources, etc. Accordingly, the hydropower, coal-fired thermal power, gas turbines, even oil-fired thermal power sources also get ready for mobilization at the maximum level to ensure power supply for the hot season in 2018.
Reporter: From 2018, the competitive wholesale electricity market has been still at a pilot phase but changed to real payment form, what effect may this cause for power supply, particularly at the peak of hot season in 2018, Sir?
Mr. Dinh The Phuc: The competitive wholesale electricity market has been piloted from 2016 (in which the 2016-2017 phase is the pilot transaction on the paper) and started changing to the real payment form from January 2018. Operating the market will contribute to the competition in electricity wholesale trading among power generation units and Power Corporations.
The market is designed on the basis of inheriting and developing the competitive electricity generation market, so the electricity wholesale market will change the current pricing, payment and contract mechanisms between electricity buyers and sellers from power plants but it will not affect the operation and mobilization of power plants to meet demands of load.
The bidding and mobilization scheduling of power plants has been remained the same as in the previously competitive electricity generation market that ensures maximum exploitation of the available capacity of power plants to perform sufficient power supply for load demands of the power system. In fact, after five years of operating the competitive electricity generation market, the power supply security has always been ensured without negatively affecting the operation of the power system.
Electricity market operation is always associated with ensuring security of power supply system - Photo: Huyen Thuong
Reporter: Could you elaborate on the operation of the electricity market in the first 4 months of 2018?
Mr. Dinh The Phuc: From the beginning to May of year 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has instructed units to both operate the competitive power generation market as in previous years and operate the pilot competitive electricity wholesale market in 2018, at the same time. Currently, 86 power plants have directly entered the competitive electricity generation market with a total installed capacity of 22,910MW.
The 2018 pilot competitive wholesale electricity market comprises the participation of 5 Power Corporations, Electricity Trading Company, Phu My 1 and Phu My 4 Power Plants. Accordingly, the Power Corporations will purchase electricity under the market mechanism with the rate of about 4.5% of the total watershed power output, the rest will be purchased from Vietnam Electricity at the wholesale price as regulated by EVN.
In the first four months of 2018, Power Corporations have signed three-party power purchase contracts with EVNGENCO3 and EVN (represented by Electricity Trading Company); carried out the load forecast, calculated and distributed the output of purchase contracts in the electricity market, collected and cross-checked the measurement data of, inspected, cross-checked and confirmed the daily lists and monthly lists on the spot market. Overcoming the obstacles in the first month of operation, the operation of the competitive wholesale electricity market has been, so far, steadily stabilized, prepared for the expansion and upgrading in 2019 according to the set roadmap.
Reporter: Thank you Sir!