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Competitive energy market to go live
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has called on the Ministry of Industry and Trade to put the Viet Nam Competitive Generation Market (VCGM) into official operation by the beginning of next year.
The VCGM is expected to create an equal playing field by erasing Electricity of Viet Nam's (EVN) market monopoly, lead to lower costs and ensure a better balance between demand and supply.
At the beginning of last month, 48 out of the country's 73 power plants signed up to take part in a piloted VCGM programme.
Hai asked the ministry to allow EVN to implement payments according to current prices to help boost the market, urging the setting up of a national electricity regulatory commission including representatives from State management agencies and major power companies.
The deputy PM also asked EVN to review the establishment of power generation corporations during this quarter.
Deputy head of the ministry's Electricity Regulatory Authority of Viet Nam (ERAV) Dinh The Phuc said that power plants which were eligible to participate in the pilot programme have offered direct prices.
"Most plants joining the market have completed price establishment, offering software and upgrading their websites," Phuc said.
He said that the market has been boisterous after a month of operation and that the calculation of electricity prices and the publishing of information have followed regulations.
"While initial figures have shown the market reflecting a real demand for electricity as well as differences between peak and non-peak times, some plants have found following regulations based on prices and updates related to operation and capacity confusing," he added.
In an effort to put the market into official operation by the beginning of next year, relevant agencies have been rushing to develop an effective information and communication infrastructure for the market.
"EVN has mobilised its resources to improve connecting units to the system while transferring electricity purchasing contracts among power plants and building a standard price frame to act as a base for power plants to adjust their prices," Phuc said.
However, he said that one of the largest current difficulties facing the market centred on providing fuel to natural gas-fuelled power plants.
"We have been struggling to calculate an appropriate sales price due to little previous criteria," EVN Deputy General Director Duong Quang Thanh said.
EVN has asked the ministry to hire a consultancy firm to help choose a plant which could be used as a foundation in calculating prices based on capacity and cost.
The market would be developed into a wholesale competitive market by 2014 and a retail VCGM after 2022.
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