Attracting private capital to invest in power transmission: Amending the new law is the first step
In addition to amending a number of points of the Electricity Law 2004, there will be more detailed regulations to meet the requirements of attracting private capital to invest in transmission.
The legal basis for calling for private investment in power transmission was clarified after the amendment of the Electricity Law 2004.
Legal clarity
The National Assembly has just passed the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 9 laws, including: Law on Public Investment, Law on Investment in the mode of public-private partnership, Law on Investment, Law on Housing, Law on Bidding, Law Electricity, Enterprise Law, Special Consumption Tax Law and Civil Judgment Enforcement Law
The amendment of a number of points in this 2004 Electricity Law is said to have clarified the legal basis for calling for private investment in power transmission.
Specifically, in Clause 2, Article 4 of the 2004 Electricity Law, the paragraph "Attracting all economic sectors to participate in investment in construction of transmission power grids on the basis of ensuring national defense and security and following electricity development planning. Non-state economic sectors are entitled to operate the transmission grids they have invested in building. At the same time, supplementing Clause 2a, Article 4, with the stipulation that "The State has the exclusive right to operate the transmission grid, except for the transmission grid invested and built by economic sectors other than the state".
In addition, the new law also adds point d1 after point d, clause 1 with the content "Connecting to the transmission grid built by all economic sectors when technical conditions and standards are met." , point h1 is added after point h, clause 2 is "Ensure the connection rights of organizations and individuals engaged in electricity activities to the transmission grid they have invested and built; In case of refusal to connect, the regulations of the Minister of Industry and Trade shall apply.
Despite pressing the button to pass, but the National Assembly deputies also said that it is necessary to review the entire Electricity Law to consider accelerating the comprehensive amendment, ensuring the stability of the legal system, because the Electricity Law There are many contents that need to be revised such as the structure of the electricity industry, renewable energy, power transmission, and offshore wind power.
Experts from the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transformation (VIET SE) said that investing in transmission infrastructure to catch up with the progress of construction of new power plants is a big challenge for the Group. Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) in the context of limited capital; There is no government guarantee due to the limitation of the public debt ceiling and the issues of compensation for site clearance or investment projects using forest land.
"The principle that economic sectors are allowed to do business in areas that are not prohibited by law is the fundamental principle of the recent process of developing laws related to enterprises, investment and business." , the report of VIET SE commented.
Therefore, the 2004 revised Electricity Law clearly states that the transmission sector in which the State holds the monopoly for investment and the spaces in which other investors have the right to invest are very welcome.
However, in the Report on Receiving, revising and explaining the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 9 recently passed laws of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Government needs to continue implementing necessary solutions in practice to both attract non-state economic sectors and ensure national defense, security and safety of the power system, especially the management and operation of the transmission grid according to authority prescribed in Articles 42 and 70 of the current Electricity Law.
Electricity purchase price is key
According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, former director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, the transmission project is an important project of the country, contributing to ensuring electricity and national energy security. However, from a purely economic perspective and the limitation of transmission fees in the past, this is a project with low feasibility, so it will not be possible to raise capital from any financial institution. . Therefore, the foundation for raising capital and implementing projects is to offer attractive financial solutions to increase the feasibility of the project.
Looking at the transmission projects invested by the private sector in the past, it is clear that the problem that has emerged is that these lines are not separate from specific power source projects.
Currently, there are 5 transmission lines of 500 kV level invested by the private sector. However, all of these projects are invested in a period when the purchase price of solar and wind power is very attractive, so when they reach the finish line on time, the profit that the business gets is enough for the homeowner. invested a few thousand billion dong to build the line and then ready to hand over 0 dong to the power industry. If only waiting for the cost of transmitting electricity through the line, the project is certainly not economical for private investors.
Not to mention, some of these transmission projects only take 4-6 months to construct, thanks to bypassing many stages of approval and appraisal according to the same process as when invested by enterprises.
