Early completion of the Draft Circular regulating the operation of the competitive wholesale electricity market

Attending the Conference were Deputy Minister Truong Thanh Hoai, representatives of the leaders of the following units: Department of Legal Affairs, Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority, Electricity Regulatory Authority, Electricity System and Market Operation Company (NSMO), Members of the Circular Drafting Team, Vietnam Electricity Group, Power Generation Corporations: Power Generation Corporation 1, Power Generation Corporation 2, Power Generation Corporation 3, Electricity Corporation - TKV, Oil and Gas Power Corporation, Power Corporations: Northern, Central, Southern, Hanoi City , Ho Chi Minh City.

There are also a number of other related units: Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company, Central Hydropower Joint Stock Company, Southern Hydropower Joint Stock Company, Bac Lieu Electricity Company Limited, Song Ba Joint Stock Company, O Mon II Electricity Company Limited, An Khanh Thermal Power Joint Stock Company, Thang Long Thermal Power Joint Stock Company, Bitexco Energy Joint Stock Company.

Reporting at the Conference, the leader of the Electricity Regulatory Authority said that, implementing the Decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade on establishing the Drafting Team of the Circular regulating the competitive wholesale electricity market (replacing Circular No. 45/2018/TT-BCT dated November 15, 2018 and Circular No. 24/2019/TT-BCT dated November 14, 2019), based on comments from relevant units and organizations, in the context of many new policies issued by the Government and the Prime Minister, the Drafting Team has reviewed, discussed and agreed on the addition and amendment of a number of contents in the Draft Circular. Specifically as follows: (1) Supplementing regulations related to renewable energy power generation units participating in the electricity market, supplementing regulations on subjects participating in the electricity market, bidding mechanism, payment mechanism for renewable energy power generation units participating in the electricity market; (2) Amend and supplement a number of regulations in accordance with the current status of electricity market operation and practical issues in electricity market operation; (3) Amend and supplement regulations on electricity market operation planning, regulations on scheduling the mobilization of plants to ensure binding fuel consumption/output of BOT power plants, power plants with fuel consumption commitments that are permitted by competent state agencies to transfer horizontally to power purchase contracts; (4) Amend and supplement regulations related to transferring A0 to the Ministry of Industry and Trade; (5) Supplement regulations related to the title of "Electricity Market Transaction Operation Engineer" for A0; (6) Put the procedures guiding the implementation of the Circular into appendices issued with the Circular; (7) Remove the content on dispute resolution and administrative sanctions because this content has been regulated in related Decrees of the Government and other Circulars of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In his speech directing the Conference, the Minister requested the delegates attending the Conference to focus on discussing the issues reported by the Electricity Regulatory Authority. At the same time, he requested the Drafting Team to study and absorb as much of the opinions at the Conference as possible to supplement and complete the draft Circular to ensure compliance with current legal regulations.

Other proposals related to adjusting the electricity market design will be considered for appropriate adjustment as soon as the revised Electricity Law comes into effect.

At the Conference, delegates listened to comments and solutions from representatives of relevant units, EVN and NSMO to resolve some problems of the electricity industry in the Draft Circular on payment mechanism, on the design of competitive electricity generation market and competitive wholesale electricity market...

After listening to the opinions of the delegates, concluding the Conference, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said that Vietnam's electricity market has been designed and put into operation for more than 12 years. In the first phase, the market was designed to encourage the development of various types of electricity sources. However, at present, with the diverse appearance of electricity sources and changes in the system structure, it is necessary to review and adjust to redesign the electricity market accordingly. Accordingly, the Minister said that it is necessary to develop the market at all three levels: competitive electricity generation, competitive electricity wholesale, and competitive electricity retail.

In that spirit, the Minister suggested that, in the process of proposing amendments and supplements to the law, it is necessary to review and amend the provisions under the authority of the Ministry. Regarding the amendment of Circular 45 in the context that the Electricity Law has not been amended and cannot fundamentally change the electricity market, only the contents that have been accepted by the Drafting Team and included in the Draft Decree were discussed. Basically, the contents have been highly agreed upon, however, it is still necessary to consider and supplement some detailed issues to clarify the responsibilities and authority of the NSMO.

Regarding some remaining issues, the Minister assigned EVN and NSMO to propose principles and methods for determining and adjusting market capacity prices, contract output, and types of participation in the electricity market of some hydropower plants in accordance with the current status of Vietnam's electricity system, in compliance with current regulations; send them to the Drafting Team for comments to complete the Draft Circular and submit it for promulgation in September 2024.

Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/hoat-dong/som-hoan-thien-du-thao-thong-tu-quy-dinh-van-hanh-thi-truong-ban-buon-dien-canh-tranh.html