Industry ministry criticized for approving 154 solar power projects out of plan

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) approved and advised the Prime Minister to approve 154 solar power projects outside the national plan, the Government Inspectorate has concluded.

It said the additional projects had “no legal basis” under the plan.

In its conclusion after carrying out an inspection of the ministry’s functioning, the inspectorate said despite achieving certain results, there were many shortcomings, limitations and violations in the management and implementation of the national power development plan for the 2011-2020 period, especially the amended Power Development Plan VII (2016-2020).

The agency proposed that the Prime Minister assign the Ministry of Public Security to receive documents for further investigating and handling the case in line with law.

According to inspectors, among the 154 solar projects mentioned above, 123 projects with a total capacity of 8,496 MW put into operation in 2016-2020 was the main factor in causing an imbalance between power source and grid.

The projects also caused an imbalance in the structure of power sources between regions, causing difficulties for the management and operation of the power system and a waste of social resources.

In this instance, the ministry had showed lax management and signs of irresponsibility causing serious consequences under Article 360 of the 2015 Penal Code, the inspectors said.

They also said that ministry advised the Prime Minister to promulgate Clauses 1 and 3, Article 5 of Decision No. 13/2020 that was contrary to the government’s Resolution 115/2018 and inconsistent with the Prime Minister's conclusions and directions, increasing electricity purchase costs and reducing profits of state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN).

Violation of land use plans

The Government Inspectorate said it has sent information and documents to the Ministry of Public Security to consider the MoIT’s shortcomings and violations in issuing guiding documents and giving advice on promulgating a mechanism to encourage the development of rooftop solar power.

This led to the rapid installation of many rooftop solar systems with total capacity of approximately 1 MW on agricultural and forestry land. These systems violated land use plans, but still enjoyed the preferential FIT prices of 8.38 U.S. cent per kWh for 20 years, the inspectorate said.

It proposed that the Prime Minister asks the Ministry of Public Security to investigate the management and use of land for construction of solar power and wind power projects on land planned for mineral reserve exploitation or in the subdivision planning for exploration, exploitation, processing and use of titanium ore in the south-central province of Binh Thuan.

Other instances of mismanagement found by the inspectorate related to the use of land for solar power projects, overlapping with plans for the Tan My irrigation system project in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan, and with the planning of the Ia Mor reservoir irrigation area in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

Overlaps also occurred in the construction of wind power projects with the subdivision planning for exploration, exploitation, processing and use of bauxite ore in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong; and the Dak Glun 2 and 3 hydroelectric plant projects on an area of 15.3 hectares in the province’s Quang Tam commune, Tuy Duc district.

The overlap should be investigated further, the inspectorate proposed.

The inspectorate has also forwarded its conclusions to the Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission for considering disciplinary measures against officials under the management of the Politburo and Party Secretariat.