Ninh Thuan wants EVN to purchase Trungnam’s unpriced solar power capacity

Ninh Thuan authorities have proposed the government to direct state utility Electricity Vietnam (EVN) to purchase the 40% portion of the Trungnam Group solar power plant's capacity that has yet to gain a pricing mechanism.

“This aims to win investor trust and enhance the investment environment in Ninh Thuan province, contributing to promoting local socio-economic development,” the provincial people's committee said in a document sent to Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh last week.

From September 1, EVN stopped purchasing 172.12 megawatts from the Trung Nam-Thuan Nam solar power plant's 450-MW capacity, saying this portion is yet to have a pricing mechanism.

Trungnam then sent a petition to the government, claiming that slashing 40% of the Ninh Thuan province-based project’s capacity would mean severe losses.

“It will break the investor’s commitment on the financial plan approved by credit institutions, leading to the project’s inability to repay loans,” the group said.

Chairing a meeting on this matter earlier this month, Deputy PM Thanh asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to review and thoroughly handle all petitions by the investor - Trungnam Group’s Trung Nam-Thuan Nam Solar Power Company Limited, ensuring all are managed in line with the law.

In response to this direction, the MoIT’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority later (EREA) in a statement requested EVN to “follow the solar power purchase contract signed with Trungnam Group in line with relevant legal regulations.”

Previously, EVN and Trungnam Group had held talks on solutions for the power purchase deadlock during which the state utility asked Trungnam to put the 172-MW portion into the “competitive power generation market”.

The prolonged suspension of utilizating Trung Nam-Thuan Nam solar power will cause a waste of electricity from renewable energy and cost the company nearly VND2 billion ($82,270) per day, it said, adding its losses amounted to about VND80 billion ($3.3 million) as of October 10.