National Assembly's review agency: More solutions needed for Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant to operate by 2030

On the morning of February 14, authorized by the Prime Minister, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien submitted to the Government a draft resolution on specific mechanisms and policies for the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien - Photo: Quochoi.vn

According to the Minister of Industry and Trade, this is a particularly important project with complex technology, which only a few countries possess. Meanwhile, the investment capital demand is very large and this is the first time it is invested in construction in our country. Therefore, it is necessary to have specific mechanisms and policies that are strong enough to speed up the progress and shorten the implementation time.

Proposal to conduct parallel procedures and appoint contractors

The Government's goal is to put the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project into operation in 2030-2031, ensuring national energy security and meeting the electricity demand for the country's socio -economic development.

On that basis, the Government has proposed a series of specific policy mechanisms for the project. First of all, it is to allow the simultaneous implementation of work on negotiating agreements and agreements with partners in parallel with the process of preparing documents and approving adjustments to investment policies and approving investment projects.

The selection of investors and contractors is expected to apply the form of turnkey contracts and designated bidding for turnkey packages for the construction of main factories with contractors in intergovernmental agreements or treaties; important consulting packages...

The Government also proposes that these works, including project preparation, agreement negotiations and turnkey contract agreements, be carried out in parallel before project approval.

Regarding the mechanism on financial plans and capital arrangements, the Government will negotiate loans with partners; allow investors to borrow again without bearing credit risks; use increased revenue sources, save budget expenditures and other legal capital sources.

At the same time, investors are allowed to use loans from government/corporate/project bonds and some other mechanisms to have enough counterpart capital to implement the project; arrange state budget capital to implement the migration and resettlement project.

In addition, there are mechanisms for applying technical regulations, standards, and norms; and unit prices. Investors are exempted from reporting procedures to agencies on capital mobilization plans.

Ninh Thuan province has mechanisms for compensation, resettlement, infrastructure development, material supply, and social security.

In addition, there are mechanisms on procedures for approving policies to change forest use purposes, handling overlapping areas of national mineral reserves; handling overlapping planning; mechanisms for implementing consultation on environmental impact assessment reports and other mechanisms.

Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy - Photo: Quochoi.vn

Tightly control capital mobilization for effective use

During the review, Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy agreed with the need to issue specific policies and mechanisms to speed up the project's construction progress. However, with the proposal to put the project into operation in 2030, the agency said that it is necessary to "carefully study and supplement solutions" to ensure the operational target.

The proposal to select contractors through the form of direct contracting and turnkey contracts is considered reasonable. However, the review agency believes that this form can lead to limited competition, the risk of group interests and lack of transparency in the implementation process.

Therefore, it is recommended to have clear regulations on the conditions of application, criteria for selecting contractors, and to add a mechanism to strictly control contract terms, especially commitments on technology, maintenance and technology transfer after project completion.

The Prime Minister has assigned this project to the Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) and the National Energy Industry Group (PVN), but the appraisal agency has requested to study and consider specific regulations, especially financial plans and capital arrangements.

Along with that, with the mechanism to ensure the level of counterpart capital, the Government needs to clarify and affirm that the re-evaluation of this capital source is only for the nuclear power project. Along with that, there needs to be strict regulations on loan limits, interest rates, repayment terms and binding conditions and capital control solutions...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-quan-tham-tra-cua-quoc-hoi-can-them-giai-phap-de-dien-nhat-nhan-ninh-thuan-van-hanh-vao-nam-2030-20250214085204542.htm