Investors of numerous renewable energy projects demanded solutions to resolve pricing issues in a meeting with Vietnam Electricity (EVN) on Monday. 

 

Trần Đình Nhân, EVN's director-general, said EVN welcomes input and feedback from the investors and its partners and that the company has been working around the clock to resolve said issues following a guideline set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). 

 

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Bình, deputy director-general from T&T Group, said investors and businesses are especially concerned over a MoIT's decision to bring down prices to VNĐ1,185-1,508/kWh for solar and VNĐ1,587-1,816/kWh for wind, a 20-30 per cent reduction in comparison to the previous feed-in tariff, which was set 20 years ago. 

 

She also raised several issues with the current legal framework and said investors and businesses have not been consulted about how price calculation is being done. 

 

"Investors ask MoIT to review the process and introduce a new price calculation mechanism, which should be in accordance with regulations. We strongly believe an independent consulting agency should be brought in to ensure transparency and fairness during the process," she said. 

 

Đỗ Văn Bình, director-general of Đại Dương Renewable Energy, said the ministry has been slow on rolling out a detailed guideline for FiT calculations. 

 

Investors asked the ministry to quickly connect already-finished renewable projects to the national grid and keep a record of their input, for which prices can be determined at a later date. 

 

In addition, investors said they are concerned over the removal of several incentive schemes by the ministry, namely a 20-year fixed price, maintaining conversion rate to USD, and guaranteeing the purchase of the entire output.

 

Bình said the incentives were set up to encourage investment in renewable and cleaner energy in line with the government's direction to break away from traditional energy.

 

"We hope for a stable environment and a system in which the prices reflect the amount of investment we have put in," she said. 

 

Phạm Nguyên Hùng, deputy dead of MoIT's Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy, said the incentives, while in fact designed to encourage investment, cannot stay in place indefinitely and are subject to changes in the market. 

 

In an earlier development, MoIT formed an independent council to gather feedback from investments and consult with industry experts over pricing mechanisms for renewable energy. VNS