Numerous renewables projects thirsty for planning adjustment

210 photovoltaic power projects are waiting to be added into the power planning.

News outlet baodautu.vn quoted a recent report sent by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to the Prime Minister as saying the ministry had received a large number of proposals from investors on adding their projects into the power development plan.

Those in desire of planning adjustments include five liquefied natural gas fired power projects with a combined capacity reaching thousands of MW, 210 projects in photovoltaic power, and 59 in wind power.

Regarding grid connection, there are nearly 100 projects ranging from 110 kV, 220 kV, to 500 kV which are also seeking for planning adjustments.

The ministry cited the delayed planning process as a major cause which hampers the operating schedule of power projects.

It could pose a high risk of failure for projects to meet requirements for commercial operations as prescribed in the Prime Minister’s Decision 11/2017/QD-TTg and to enjoy preferential tariffs in Decision No. 39/2018/QD-TTg.

In fact, investors are rushing to put their solar power projects into commercial operations prior to June 30, 2019, whilst the commercial operations date for wind power falls on November 1, 2021.

Therefore, financiers have raised concerns that their power projects have yet to be added to the power development plan so far.

According to baodautu.vn, the large-scale Ke Ga wind power project is designed with an overall capacity of 3,400 MW. The investor revealed that a detailed plan on surveying a 2,000-square-kilometer site in the central province of Binh Thuan was submitted to the MoIT for approval last week.

The project is expected to see the first series of turbines put into operations by late 2022 while the first phase of construction towards the 600 MW capacity will be completed by 2023.

The delayed planning process raises a big question mark over when the Ke Ga project will be added to the power development plan and will receive an investment decision.

In fact, the MoIT is assigned to implement the power development plan and national energy plan as stated in the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 995/QD-TTg dated August 9, 2018.

However, there is no specific guidance regarding the procedures for planning, appraising, and approving the plan. This has caused confusion for the ministry over how to handle new power projects as it considers whether it is still empowered to approve the projects in format with Circular 43/2013/TT-BTC, Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade noted in the report.

The MoIT suggested the Prime Minister allow the ministry to adjust and supplement the power development plan as it did with previous regulations.

In particular, it recommended the planning of power sources of over 50 MW and power grids of 220 kV or higher be approved and adjusted by the Prime Minister, while projects under these levels should be approved by the ministry.