Households still waiting for rooftop solar power price approval

At a customer conference on solar power development held by Tan Binh Power Company some days ago, many households said they were still reluctant to install rooftop solar power systems because there is no information about the electricity price.

“It’s still unclear about the electricity price the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) would apply, so I still cannot make a decision,” said Tran Huu Nguyen, a HCMC resident in Tan Binh district.

Nguyen is not alone. Many households in HCMC want to install rooftop solar power systems, but they don’t know if this can bring a profit.

The electricity price of 9.35 cent per kwh is no longer valid. Households have been told that a new price level would be applied beginning July 1. However, to date, no price level has been fixed.

According to Nguyen Duy Quoc Viet, deputy general director of EVN HCM City, the number of rooftop solar power systems connected to the national grid in HCM City decreased sharply in August compared with June.

Only 557 systems were connected with the national grid in August with total capacity of 5.25 MWp, while there were 856 systems in June with total capacity of 11.01 MWp. This represented a 35 percent decrease in number of systems and 50 percent in capacity.

In fact, more rooftop solar power systems have been connected with the national grid since July 1. However, since there is no decision about the new electricity price, EVN HCM City cannot sign contracts on purchasing electricity with power system owners and cannot make payments for the electricity EVN has purchased.

According to Viet, maintaining the electricity purchasing price at 9.35 cent per kwh is reasonable.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), in the latest draft on solar power pricing, also proposes maintaining the purchasing price at 9.35 cent per kwh and keeping the price unchanged until 2021.

Analysts say that if the price level gets approval from the government, the rooftop solar power market will see a boom in the last months of the year. They said many households are ready to install solar power systems soon after the electricity price is fixed.

EVN HCMC has urged the HCMC People’s Committee to ask state agencies and the state budget beneficiary units to install rooftop solar power systems and prioritize the development of rooftop solar power.

HCM City has great potential for rooftop solar power thanks to large roof areas. If it develops rooftop solar power, EVN would not have to spend too much money on transmission lines.