Ways to meet Viet Nam’s growing electricity needs were discussed at a workshop on regulation of the power market yesterday.
The workshop, held at the Sofitel Plaza Hotel, featured a range of experts from the power sector discussing how to apply international experiences in developing the power market to Viet Nam’s situation.
Participants included Government officials, senior management from Electricity of Viet Nam and other generating companies, and representatives from investors and donor agencies. Two specialists in the field, John Todd of Elenchus Research Associates and Marie Rounding of Gowlings, described their international experiences in the development of competitive power markets and in particular, the lessons to be learned from Canada.
Participants discussed how these experiences can be applied to the Vietnamese context. Particular attention was paid to how to combine competition and investment in new generating capacity to meet Viet Nam’s rapidly growing power demands. Viet Nam faces shortages of electricity supplies in the coming years as investment struggles to keep up with demand growth.
The workshop was organised under the auspices of the Electricity Regulatory Authority, established under the Ministry of Industry, which is responsible for the implementation of a competitive power market in Viet Nam.
The new power market will be implemented in three stages, with competition between power suppliers starting in 2009, competition to sell to power distributors and large customers from 2015 and competition to sell to all customers from 2022.
According to the Government, it will provide new opportunities for investment in the power sector and increase pressure on generators to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The introduction of the competitive market is a central element of the Government’s strategy for the power sector and, in particular, will contribute greatly to delivering the necessary huge increases in electricity supply at least-cost.
