After 14 months of promulgating the ceiling price framework for transitional renewable energy projects, no project has yet finished negotiating power purchase agreements (PPA), because the Ministry of Industry and Trade has not yet issued official instructions on Calculate total investment and electricity price.
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| Transitional renewable energy projects impatiently wait for instructions on electricity sales negotiations to take the next step. Ảnh: D.T |
Waiting for instructions on negotiating electricity sales
Talking to a reporter from the Investment Newspaper, a representative of a wind power enterprise belonging to a transitional project located in the West said that there is currently no guidance from the Ministry of Industry and Trade on calculating costs and electricity prices for projects. Renewable energy projects are transitioning, causing businesses to only sadly watch their money fall.
Specifically, after failing to come into commercial operation (COD) before November 1, 11, transitional projects had to wait until October 2021 for the Ministry of Industry and Trade to issue Circular 10/2022/TT- The MOIT regulates the method of building the electricity generation price frame for solar power plants and transitional wind power plants. Then, in January 15, there will be Decision 2022/QD-BCT on the electricity generation price frame for transitional solar and wind power plants.
However, until now, 14 months after the issuance of Decision 21/QD-BCT, transitional projects still have to wait for guidance from the Ministry of Industry and Trade before they can reach the final stage in price negotiations. official electricity and PPA.
During the waiting period, the business also negotiated specifically with the Electricity Trading Company (EPTC) under Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) 4 times. But because there are no detailed instructions for the negotiation process of renewable energy projects in general from the Ministry of Industry and Trade to set the final official price, the two sides cannot come to an agreement and officially sign the PPA.
“EVN/EPTC is just a state-owned enterprise, following regulations issued by authorities. After the recent inspections and tests on renewable energy, they dare not make any decisions. So, the whole 'village' of renewable energy people can only sit still and wait," the above representative was upset.
The current situation of the above wind power project is also the concern of many investors who are implementing other transitional renewable energy projects.
Mr. Nguyen Binh, a person involved in implementing transitional wind power projects, said that after signing an agreement with EPTC on a temporary price equal to 50% of the price frame according to Decision 21/QD-BCT, the investor continued to keep waiting.
In 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular 57/TT-BCT regulating the method of determining electricity generation prices and the order of checking electricity purchase contracts for all power plants connected to the national electricity system. Total capacity is over 30 MW. However, wind and solar power plants are not subject to this circular.
“Now that there is no legal basis, we cannot negotiate. Although the Ministry of Industry and Trade is amending Circular 57/TT-BCT, it has not yet been issued," Mr. Binh said, adding that the temporary price acceptance is equal to 50% of the ceiling price of the price bracket according to the Decision. 21/QD-BCT is a temporary solution for investors to gain something or a little, to offset the costs spent.
EVN is also waiting
EVN's latest published statistics show that, as of October 13, 10, out of 2023 transitional renewable energy projects, there are 85 projects with a total capacity of 69 MW requesting temporary prices. equal to 3927,41% of the ceiling price of the price bracket according to Decision No. 50/QD-BCT dated January 21, 7 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
EVN and the investor have completed price negotiations and signed PPAs with 63/69 projects. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has approved temporary prices for 62 projects, with a total capacity of 3.399,41 MW.
The number of projects that have submitted documents to negotiate electricity prices and PPAs is still 81/85 projects, with a total capacity of 4.597,86 MW.
It is known that the Electricity Regulatory Authority has the 3rd Draft and is actively soliciting comments from relevant parties.
There are also 21 factories/parts of factories with a total capacity of 1.201,42 MW that have completed COD procedures, generating commercial electricity to the grid.
Talking to a reporter from the Investment Newspaper about the current status of PPA negotiations for transitional renewable energy projects, a representative of EPTC said that any business wishing to request to sign a PPA, EPTC has initialed it and is currently waiting. Official price calculation method of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
EPTC has twice commented to the Electricity Regulatory Authority on the method of calculating prices for renewable energy plants to amend Circular 2/TT-BCT, in order to soon have official regulations. Meanwhile, EPTC has also asked investors to follow the calculation method of the current circular with traditional power plants so that when there are official instructions for transitional projects, they can withdraw Short calculation and negotiation time.
Both investors and EPTC admit that the two most important parameters in the project are total investment and electricity output. Because transitional renewable energy plants are "indirectly participating in the electricity market", investors are very interested in actual electricity prices and output.
According to current regulations, the determination of average electricity output is based on the approved basic design. This facility design is currently prepared by the investor and submitted to a state agency (Department of Industry and Trade or Ministry of Industry and Trade) for appraisal and approval.
“In fact, most transitional renewable energy projects were established at a time when applying FIT prices were quite high for wind and solar power. Now according to Circular 57/TT-BCT, the parameters related to the total investment must be reviewed and standardized in terms of procedures and calculation methods", commented EPTC representative.
Therefore, EPTC said that in March 3, EPTC will continue to work with factories and local Departments of Industry and Trade to review parameters related to the official price calculation process in advance, in order to shorten the time. negotiation period when the revised Circular 2024/TT-BCT is officially issued.
However, reviewing and recalculating parameters related to the total investment of projects will be a headache for investors.
“Each project will have a different price, although not much different. To prove their proposal to EPTC, the investor will also have a headache, especially in the current reality, the costs have increased a lot compared to the previous period, or many costs are not easily accepted such as when calculating vomit according to the previous fixed FIT price," Mr. Binh said.
But even if the costs are accepted and the PPA is officially signed as well as there is an official electricity price at this time, the wind power project in the West mentioned above will not easily reach the finish line early.
“We need 18 months to implement the project with a scale of nearly 100 MW. However, the investment license is only valid until mid-2025. Therefore, there will be additional costs to update the issued documents - which are very legally complete at present." , the business representative said.
Also according to the above business representative, waiting and carrying additional costs will make the project less and less feasible, but giving up is not easy because the cost of preparing to invest in the project and the connection line has been spent. to more than a hundred billion dong.
