Ministry of Industry and Trade: Reviewing power projects that are improperly receiving preferential FIT rates in order to revoke them.

Renewable energy projects under inspection that improperly benefited from preferential FIT rates will have their electricity payments recovered through offsetting against electricity purchase payments.

Many renewable energy project investors are awaiting negotiations on transitional pricing but are facing numerous obstacles. (In the photo: a renewable energy project that has submitted its application and is awaiting price negotiations - Photo: N.KH.)

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has just submitted a report to Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh on the plan to implement the Government's resolution on removing obstacles and difficulties for renewable energy projects.

Planning will be supplemented, and land procedures will be streamlined.

The project's removal is being carried out based on the resolution of the 2024 regular government meeting, in which the government agreed in principle to remove difficulties and obstacles for renewable energy projects subject to inspection.

Regarding the issue of supplementing the planning, the Government Inspectorate stated that the Ministry of Industry and Trade had approved, supplemented, and advised the Prime Minister to approve 154 solar power projects with a total capacity of 13,837 MW without any legal basis or planning foundation.

Based on this conclusion, the Ministry of Industry and Trade recommends that the Prime Minister issue a document or decision to update the list of solar power projects in the power source structure until 2030 according to Power Plan 8.

This will exclude projects that violate regulations related to national defense and security, and those that violate planning regulations for key national projects. It will also update projects whose socio-economic effectiveness has been reviewed to allow for dual-use planning.

For projects with land-related procedural issues, completion will be permitted according to regulations, with the provincial People's Committee being the implementing agency. For projects with issues related to mineral reserves, irrigation, or forest land, the province will coordinate to assess, resolve, and report on matters beyond its authority. For construction projects that have not yet completed the acceptance testing, procedures will also be completed according to regulations.

One issue of concern is the handling of FIT (feed-in tariff) prices. The Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that projects not eligible for this price will have to determine their electricity purchase and sale prices according to regulations.

Electricity projects that receive preferential FIT (Feed-in Tariff) rates improperly will have to have their rates reassessed.

Simultaneously, recover any preferential FIT rates that were improperly received through offsetting electricity purchase payments. The solution should be based on optimal analysis, evaluation, and comparison of socio-economic benefits, minimizing disputes, lawsuits, and impacts on the investment environment.

To address this, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed that the Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) take the lead, coordinating with project investors to determine the conditions for enjoying preferential prices; for projects not eligible for these prices, EVN would report to the competent authority to serve as a basis for offsetting payments for electricity purchased.

For rooftop solar power projects built on agricultural and forestry land, the ministry proposes that EVN review and compile a list of projects to report to the provincial People's Committee, identifying the land used for farming and cultivation. If land violations are identified, the project will not be eligible for the FIT price and the electricity purchase price will have to be recalculated.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the process of resolving difficulties and obstacles of wind and solar power projects, in cases exceeding their authority, the agencies will send the information to the Ministry for compilation and reporting to the Steering Committee for consideration and resolution. At the same time, the Ministry recommends that the Deputy Prime Minister direct ministries, sectors, and localities to proactively address these obstacles.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bo-cong-thuong-ra-soat-du-an-dien-huong-gia-fit-uu-dai-khong-dung-de-thu-hoi-20241226081833783.htm