Vietnam prepares legal foundations for power wholesale market
Regulations on a competitive power wholesale market are scheduled to be completed in June 2017, heard a workshop held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in Hanoi on June 14.
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He underlined the need to lay a legal foundation for the market, develop infrastructure for relevant units and set up a staff knowledgeable about the electricity market.
At the workshop, a representative from Australia’s IES/SWA consulting company described the legal documents as a prerequisite for the official operation of the competitive power wholesale market from 2019.
The units involved should upgrade their technologies and equipment necessary to run the market and improve capacity for their staff members, the representative suggested.
The competitive power wholesale market has been piloted in 2016 to help electricity corporations be familiar with competitive trading.
Over the past six months, the MoIT has instructed the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to hand over a number of power contracts to corporations to purchase electricity wholesale.
Under a detailed design for the competitive electricity wholesale market, approved by the ministry last year, all units owning 30-megawatt (MW) power plants and above can join the market.
Below-30MW power generators can also take part in the market if they meet infrastructure demands.
Meanwhile, build-operate-transfer projects can engage in the market either directly or through a representative unit from the EVN.
Imported electricity and wind, solar and geothermal generators, as well as below-30MW hydropower plants, are not subject to the market.
Buyers will be grouped into five corporations – Northern, Southern, and Central Region; Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporations.
The roadmap for the implementation of the competitive electricity wholesale market consists of four periods, with the initial pilot operation period beginning in 2016. The official launch of the market-proper is slated for 2019
