Two options to move the Power System Control Center away from EVN and back to the Ministry of Industry and Trade

This information was given by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in a submission to the Prime Minister on June 14.

Option 1: A0 becomes a public service unit providing power system operation and electricity market management services under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Option 2: A0 becomes a 100% State-owned Single Member Limited Liability Company (LLC) operating the power system and managing the electricity market under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

A0 has two main jobs. It is the unit that operates the national electricity system and electricity market.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, both of the above options ensure the criteria of independence and objectivity of A0 compared to the present, the ability to coordinate with related units and the ability to flexibly innovate and create.

In the current conditions, to meet the goal of transferring the A0 status to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the model of a public service unit providing power system operation services and electricity market management is appropriate.

"In the next phase, after the Law on Prices and the revised Law on Electricity are promulgated, option 2 can be considered," the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed.

According to this agency, the special nature of the newly established unit under the Ministry of Industry and Trade is the operation of the power system and the operation of the electricity market.

A0's workforce is recruited with high requirements (having a university degree at a good or excellent level or higher), is professionally trained (from 12 to 18 months) and must pass a thorough examination. Only when meeting the requirements will they be allowed to be assigned to jobs, including positions: National power system dispatcher, national power system calculation engineer, electricity market transaction operation engineer, regional power system dispatcher, regional power system calculation engineer, SCADA engineer, etc.

Furthermore, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, because electricity is a special commodity that must always balance production (supply) and consumption (demand), these positions are responsible for ensuring the operation of the power system every second, every minute, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The electricity market also performs order matching every 30 minutes/cycle on all days, including holidays (this cycle can be reduced to 15 minutes or 5 minutes like countries with developed electricity markets when the infrastructure is adequate).

"This is a critical technical workforce for the safe and economical operation of the power system. It needs to be maintained stably and is not easy to replace because it takes approximately 2 years (including recruitment, training and internship time) to have new personnel," the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted.

Therefore, qualified personnel are assigned jobs with high and competitive salaries according to their positions (according to the report, the average salary of the direct production department is about 40 million/person/month).

Therefore, in case A0 is transformed into a public service unit under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, this agency believes that it is necessary to have a specific financial mechanism that is sufficient to ensure that salaries and allowances are maintained at the same level as the current level to avoid disruptions in A0's human resources, leading to risks in the stable, safe and efficient operation of the power system, especially during the transition and completion of the organizational model.

In a development related to A0, in Decision 603/QD-EVN issued on June 14, Vietnam Electricity Group EVN temporarily suspended the position of Director of the National Power System Dispatch Center for Mr. Nguyen Duc Ninh to serve the specialized inspection work in the management and operation of electricity supply.

Current status A0 includes the National Power System Dispatch Center headquartered in Hanoi and regional Power System Dispatch Centers (A1 in the North, A2 in the South, A3 in the Central). A0 has a total of 454 employees. Most of A0's employees are highly qualified workers (91% have university degrees or higher) and are direct production workers (62% of total employees).

To ensure the safe and reliable operation of the power system, this unit has personnel holding positions participating in the operation of the power system and the power market with very heavy work pressure, having to control and operate the entire power system with hundreds of power plants, hundreds of thousands of high-voltage electrical equipment...

Electricity surplus and shortage is a very painful thing, who is responsible? Why is EVN a monopoly but still losing money? Having the right to adjust the price by 3% but EVN does not dare to do so, that is EVN's responsibility. Why EVN does not do it or why EVN is not allowed to do it must be clearly explained.

Source