Renewable energy plants, including wind and solar power, are about to enter the biggest grid-connected generation reduction season of the year as industrial electricity consumption drops sharply.
Solar and wind power plants in Vietnam face the reality of having their power generation capacity cut during Tet - Photo: NH
Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online on January 15, renewable energy businesses said that normally during the Lunar New Year, solar and wind power plants will enter a period of strong capacity cuts.
Many renewable power plants will sharply reduce their generating capacity.
Specifically, from the Tet holiday period, depending on the time frame, renewable energy plants will be required to reduce their generation capacity by 20-50%. Notably, there will be times when businesses will have their generation capacity cut by 60-80%. The peak of the reduction will fall on the official holidays of Tet when electricity consumption demand drops sharply because most businesses, factories and industrial facilities are closed for the holiday, leading to excess power supply on the national grid.
According to one business, if we calculate the total capacity that has been cut over the years, the electricity output produced from the reduced power plants has reached hundreds of thousands of MWh.
According to Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), the national electricity consumption demand during the Lunar New Year will decrease, at some low noon times it can decrease by about 60% compared to normal days.
With low electricity consumption during the Tet holiday, many types of power sources are forced to reduce generation to match load demand.
According to EVN, when demand drops too low, traditional power sources such as coal-fired thermal power, gas turbines, hydropower, etc. have stopped or reduced generation to technical limits, but the total generation capacity still exceeds demand, leading to a mandatory requirement to reduce the mobilized capacity from all types of power sources, including renewable energy sources (such as small hydropower, solar power, wind power) to ensure safe operation of the power system.
Way out for renewable energy industry
Investors expressed concern that a prolonged deflation would reduce the attractiveness of the renewable energy sector, which is expected to be an important pillar in Vietnam's energy transition.
"The revenue of solar and wind power plants depends mainly on the amount of electricity sold to the grid. When output is limited, investors not only lose revenue but also have to face fixed operating costs, even initial investment capital costs. Therefore, businesses want a mechanism to mobilize electricity sources that harmonizes the interests of all parties," said a business.
According to experts, deploying energy storage systems such as lithium batteries or pumped hydropower will help regulate supply and reduce pressure on the grid during periods of excess capacity.
Ms. Sunita Dubey (international energy expert) said that integrating storage systems into infrastructure and storing excess energy will help increase grid flexibility, reduce emissions and lower electricity costs. However, to optimize these benefits, Vietnam must accelerate the deployment of storage systems and implement more policies and regulations to support the development of this system.
Mr. Pham Dang An - Deputy General Director of Vu Phong Energy Group - said that besides the lack of policy corridor, energy storage is facing commercial difficulties because the investment cost of storage technology is still high and it is difficult to evaluate the economics of electricity storage. However, in the future, the above barriers will be removed when technology changes, costs are cheaper and there is a clear legal corridor.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cac-nha-may-nang-luong-tai-tao-buoc-vao-mua-cat-giam-phat-dien-len-luoi-20250115082208019.htm
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