New renewable energy projects still waiting for policy

In addition to the expectation of being added to the Implementation Plan of Power Plan VIII, renewable energy projects also need additional policies on electricity purchase or transmission prices, mobilization rates, etc., to calculate investment efficiency.

Currently, there is no fixed electricity purchase price (FIT price) for wind power like in previous stages. Photo: Duc Thanh

Solar power pending after inspection

In a recent meeting with localities, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized the principle of "including in the Plan for implementing the Power Plan VIII power source projects that have no violations, or have completed the correction of violations and meet the criteria on system safety, transmission technology, economic efficiency..., so as not to waste investment resources of enterprises, meeting the development requirements of localities".

At the same time, provinces with power source projects that have fully implemented the contents according to the conclusions of inspection, examination, investigation, audit and execution of judgments (if any) are required to promptly have an official report to continue updating the Plan.

Previously, according to the Report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, many solar power projects proposed by localities have not been updated in the Plan because they are on the list of 154 solar power projects mentioned in Conclusion 1027/KL-TTCP of the Government Inspectorate and transferred to the investigation agency regarding the Ministry of Industry and Trade's approval of supplements and advice to the Prime Minister to approve supplements without basis or legal basis for planning.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also worked with the Government Inspectorate to review power source projects that have not been included in the Plan due to having to correct violations related to land, investment procedures, planning, etc. according to inspection conclusions or are under inspection and investigation.

However, because the case of “Abusing position and power while performing official duties at the Ministry of Industry and Trade and provinces and cities” related to the implementation of power planning is still under further investigation, the related projects mentioned in Inspection Conclusion No. 1027/KL-TTCP cannot be quickly implemented. This means that the updating and supplementing of these solar power projects will be carried out after the conclusion of the investigation agency.

Series of projects expected to be added

In other forms of renewable energy, in addition to the projects added for the first time in Decision 262/QD-TTg dated April 1, 2024, there are also a series of projects waiting to be added to the Plan for implementing the Power Plan VIII.

Specifically, according to the report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the total number of wind power projects proposed by localities for the second time is 124 new projects, with a total capacity of 7,778.9 MW. Of which, the number of projects meeting the 9 proposed criteria is 110 projects, with a total capacity of 6,665.3 MW. The remaining projects that do not meet the criteria due to overlapping titanium, bauxite planning... are 14 projects, with a total capacity of 1,113.6 MW, accounting for about 5% of the total capacity of wind power projects approved by 2030.

There are also 20 wind power projects with a total capacity of 1,053.4 MW with adjusted information (project name, capacity scale, operation phase) compared to the first approval in Decision No. 262/QD-TTg.

Localities also proposed 132 new small hydropower projects with a total capacity of 1,381.98 MW in the second round. Of these, 128 projects met the 9 proposed criteria with a total capacity of 1,362.98 MW; 4 projects did not meet the criteria due to overlapping planning or were mentioned in inspection conclusions, with 19 MW, accounting for about 0.05% of the total capacity of small hydropower projects approved by 2030. There were also 73 projects/947.95 MW with adjusted information (project name, capacity scale, operation phase) compared to the first round.

In the biomass power sector, there are 21 new projects with a total capacity of 414 MW submitted for the second time. Of these, the number of projects meeting the 9 criteria is 21 projects/414 MW, 1 project has adjusted information.

In addition, there are 34 waste-to-energy projects with a total capacity of 621.1 MW proposed for the second time, of which the number of projects meeting the 9 proposed criteria is 34 projects/621.1 MW.

Regarding the proposals for small hydropower, biomass power, and waste-to-energy projects, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha stated that these are base power sources, so the Ministry of Industry and Trade will review and soon add them to the Plan.

However, according to many experts, adding new power projects to the Power Plan VIII implementation plan is very important, but the more important issue is finding solutions to implement these projects.

With the current reality that there is no fixed electricity purchase price (FIT price) for wind power and solar power like in previous phases, rapid project implementation is not easy.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/du-an-nang-luong-tai-tao-moi-van-cho-chinh-sach-d222669.html