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Tag: electricity

  • Electricity company Trungnam Group plans $500-mln bond issuance

    Electricity company Trungnam Group plans $500-mln bond issuance

    Energy developer Trungnam Group plans to issue US$500 million worth of bonds in the next three years to fund a number of projects until 2030.

    It is planning onshore and near-shore wind power plants that will almost triple its renewable energy capacity by 2026 from the current 1.6 gigawatts of mostly wind and solar energy, its management said.

    It will also bid for a 1,500-megawatt liquefied natural gas power project in the central province of Ninh Thuan next year.

    One of Vietnam’s largest renewable energy developers is mulling setting up a pilot green hydrogen plant with a capacity of 120-200 megawatts by 2025.

    Trungnam became the first private company to build a 500-kilovolt transmission grid in Ninh Thuan, and planned to donate it to the country, but the lack of legal provisions to support the transfer of a private asset to the government has put the deal on hold.

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  • Aeon launches clothing line to compete with fast fashion in Vietnam

    Aeon launches clothing line to compete with fast fashion in Vietnam

    Japanese retailer Aeon launched a new label in Vietnam, focusing on cheap everyday clothing, as an answer to brands like H&M or Uniqlo.

    The new lineup, called My Closet, features around 400 items that cost 50%-75% that of its competitors, targeting 16- to 24-year old women, a group of consumers that is growing fast in terms of population and spending.

    Its T-shirt, for example, costs around VND150,000 ($6). That of other Western or Japanese brands is usually priced at VND200,000-300,000.

    “We aim to make it Aeon’s first fast-fashion” foray, Aeon Vietnam General Director Yasuyuki Furusawa told Nikkei Asia.

    Vietnam is becoming Aeon’s “most important market” as it tries to expand beyond Japan, with the local capacity of handling clothing production thanks to a cheap and abundant labor force, which can minimize risk of supply disruption and bring costs down.

    It is also considering selling those items on Vietnamese e-commerce sites as well as in neighboring countries, Nikkei reported.

    Aeon entered Vietnam in 2014, and has opened around 200 stores in the country, including supermarkets and six malls.

    Its rivals, Uniqlo and H&M, entered the market in 2019 and 2017, respectively. They have less locations than Aeon, but are growing fast thanks to the rising middle class that have more money and are eager to shop.

    Vietnam has a population of nearly 100 million — behind only Indonesia and the Philippines in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — with a young average age of 33. Its economy grew at over 7% a year before the pandemic, and has been bouncing back as coronavirus curbs are removed.

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  • Remove 14,100 MW of coal plants from plan

    Remove 14,100 MW of coal plants from plan

    The Ministry of Industry and Trade wants coal-fired plants with a capacity of 14,120 megawatts scrapped from electricity production plans for Vietnam to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

    The plants were included in Power Development Plan 7 (for 2011-20) and have not been built due to delays. Now, the ministry does not want them to be part of Power Development Plan 8 (for 2021-30), which is being drafted.

    The ministry also wants to reduce the ratio of coal-fired power sources from 25-31 percent in 2030 to around 10 percent in 2045.

    No new coal-fired plant should be built after 2030, it said.

    It wants to increase output from LNG-fueled and renewable plants to offset the cut in coal use.

    It targets having 12,000-15,000 MW of renewables and 14,000 MW of liquefied natural gas plants in PDP 8.

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  • Vietnam’s hassles in developing offshore wind power industry

    Vietnam’s hassles in developing offshore wind power industry

    Unclear regulations, low prices and an insufficient grid are hampering efforts to develop offshore wind power, experts and industry insiders have said. By 2030 offshore wind power capacity would be 7,000 megawatts (MW), envisages the Power Development Master Plan VIII for 2021-30.

    But Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh, deputy director of conglomerate T&T Group, said at a conference last week that ambiguous regulations are the biggest hurdle to achieving the government’s goal.

    “A policy framework, construction roadmap or pricing mechanism for offshore wind power plants has yet to be drawn up, and there is also a lack of specific, clear instructions.”

    Offshore wind farms usually take six to nine months before commercially operating, and so it is a huge risk for investors if the mechanism is unclear, she added.

    Bui Van Thinh, chairman of the Binh Thuan Wind and Solar Energy Association, spoke about another problem: Vietnam’s power grid.

    “The country’s grid for renewable sources is already overloaded, and so it cannot benefit from more supply.”

    Upgrading the power system to cope with the targeted load requires a huge investment, and national utility EVN has no incentive to do it as it buys renewable energy at a loss.

    Meanwhile, the newly amended Law on Electricity allows private investors to fund power grids, but lacks specific instructions for implementation.

    Last October the Ministry of Industry and Trade stopped the feed-in-tariff (FIT) incentive price for wind power projects. It is now seeking feedback on bidding mechanisms for renewable energy prices.

    But Binh warned against doing that now, saying both investors and the market would be hurt.

    “Offshore wind power is a relatively new sector in Vietnam, and some investors are considering them test runs.

    “Bidding in this case will disrupt the market, and investors may decide to forfeit them after winning bids.”

    Mark Hutchinson of the Global Wind Energy Council pointed to the fact that no country has been able to install 3,000 MW of offshore wind power through bidding in early stages.

    Citing the experiences of the UK, the Netherlands and Taiwan, he said investors need to have a buffer time before bidding starts. FIT prices could be offered for the first 4,000 MW, and the next 3,000 MW could be priced through bidding, he said. He also suggested qualification-based selection to fast-track planning and construction.

    Doan Ngoc Duong, vice chairman of the Institute of Energy (IEVN) agreed, saying many countries have adopted similar policies to incentivize investors in early phases.

    “We need a pioneering project as a pilot for choosing investors and mechanisms.”

    Too many investors

    Nguyen Thanh Huyen of the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands said the number of companies seeking to invest in offshore wind farms has skyrocketed.

    “Over the last year and a half 35 firms have asked to explore 41 locations to build wind farms, up from the previous three.”

    Nguyen Manh Cuong of the IEVN said 22 projects have registered in the north and 74 in the south with a total designed capacity of over 156,000 MW.

    This is much higher than the government’s target of 7,000 MW.

    In the northern province of Nam Dinh, for instance, only one project is registered, but with a capacity of 12,000 MW.

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  • Vietnam plans two-thirds cut in thermal power

    Vietnam plans two-thirds cut in thermal power

    Vietnam will reduce coal-fired power supply by two-thirds between 2025 and 2045 and increase renewable power supply to account for more than half of the total.

    All localities have expressed agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s latest version – Power Power Development Plan 8 – which was announced earlier this month. The ministry is required to complete its final draft of the plan and submit it to the government by the end of this month, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh has said.

    The plan includes targets to bring down the ratio of coal-fired power supply from 29.3 percent in 2025 to 9.6 percent in 2045, when the country is set to have a total supply of 401,556 megawatts from all sources.

    This means coal-fired projects under construction will still be completed, but no new plant will be approved. Hydropower will also see its ratio reduced from 27.2 percent in 2025 to 9 percent in 2045. Renewable energy, comprising mostly of wind and solar power, will see its ratio increase from 23.7 percent in 2025 to 59.5 percent by 2045.

    Offshore projects are set to account for zero percent of supply by 2025 but will rise to 17 percent by 2045.

    Solar power farms will see its ratio more than double from 8.9 percent to 19.4 percent.

    The industry ministry also eyes a gradual transition from liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects to hydrogen power over 20 years. By the 10th year of their operation, the government wants LNG plants to have 20 percent of their capacity coming from hydrogen power.

    The latest development plan aims to maximize the reduction of coal-fired power sources in order to meet the country’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the industry ministry told the government in its report.

    Carbon emissions are set to hit 175 million tonnes by 2045 and fall to 42 million tonnes by 2050.

    The plan will also increase power independence and reduce the need for energy imports, the ministry said.

    Power imports are set to see their ratio decrease from 4.5 percent of total supply in 2025 to 2.8 percent in 2045.

    The industry ministry estimates an investment of $141.6 billion to implement this plant, with transmission accounting for nearly 10 percent.

    It wants to increase power transmission from the central and southern regions to the northern region starting 2030.

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  • Vietnam to import coal from Australia amid power shortage fears

    Vietnam to import coal from Australia amid power shortage fears

    Vietnam wants to import around five million tonnes of coal from Australia amid a domestic shortage that has forced power plants to cut production.

    Apprising Australian ambassador Robyn Mudie about this on Friday Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien sought his help to link up Vietnamese companies with their Austrian counterparts so that they could start buying the coal this month.

    Australia is one of the world’s biggest coal exporters. The trade ministry is also looking for sources in South Africa. National utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) said this week that several thermal power plants in the northern and central regions are cutting down production to 60-70 percent due to a coal shortage.

    It also warned of the risk of power shortages from this month. But the trade ministry has said there will be no power shortages this year. It is mobilizing around 3,700 megawatts from other coal- and gas-fired plants and renewable and hydropower sources.

    EVN said that by 2025 another 5,500 megawatts of renewables are needed to ward off power shortages. It has also called for incentives for rooftop solar. The company is seeking the government’s permission to build wind power plants in the north. Most plants now are in the central and southern regions.

    Coal-fired plants accounted for 43.6 percent of total power generation in February, according to EVN. Vietnam promised to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in the U.K. last November.

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  • Vietnam faces electricity shortages from April

    Vietnam faces electricity shortages from April

    Vietnam may face a power shortage from April due to tight coal supplies, Vietnam Electricity (EVN) reported.

    Some thermal power plants are operating at 60-70 percent capacity, which has led to a decline in electricity supply as the high-demand season nears.

    The decline in power production is seen at Nghi Son 1, Vung Ang 1, and Vinh Tan 2 thermal power plants in the central region and Duyen Hai 1 in the Mekong delta, EVN said in a report Wednesday. Hai Phong thermal plant in the north has shut down three out of four turbines, it added.

    This has led to a shortage of 3,000 megawatts of electricity. The decline came as coal delivery to EVN plants was 23 percent short of its need for the first quarter.

    As the country’s two biggest coal miners Vinacomin and Dong Bac struggled to have enough supply, there could be an electricity shortage starting April, EVN stated. Vietnam, especially the northern region, usually has high power demand between May and July due to high heat.

    The state-run Vinacomin reported earlier this month that the shortage of miners in the first two months due to Covid-19 and surging import prices have caused its supply to fall. As of March 14, the company had provided only 74 percent of what it promised to thermal power plants for the first quarter.

    The company has also sought official approval to raise selling prices as import rates increase. It has not hiked prices for the last two years. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has ordered Vinacomin to ensure that there would be no coal shortage under any circumstances. Coal-fired plants accounted for 43.6 percent of total power generation in February, according to EVN.

    Vietnam promised to target net-zero emissions by 2050 at the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Scotland last November.

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  • Vietnam Electricity posts $207.6-mln profit

    Vietnam Electricity posts $207.6-mln profit

    State power utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) made a profit of VND4.74 trillion ($207.6 million) from all activities in 2020.

    But, its core business of electricity production and trading reported VND1.3 trillion in losses due to price reduction and discounts. In 2020, EVN sold each kilowatt-hour for an average VND1,820.20, down 1.68 percent from 2019.

    Reduction in sales price, together with changes in electricity load and consumption due to Covid-19, and VND12.3-trillion bill discounts for pandemic-hit customers, are cited as reasons for the loss.

    The company reported more than VND6 trillion in revenue from its financial activities, capital transfers, and dividends profits in 2020.

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  • Laos to supply Vietnam power from Mitsubishi-built wind farm

    Laos to supply Vietnam power from Mitsubishi-built wind farm

    Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation will develop Southeast Asia’s largest wind farm in Laos to supply electricity to Vietnam, where demand is expected to grow continuously.

    The 600-megawatt onshore project, the first wind farm in Laos, will be located in the southern provinces of Sekong and Attapeu, the company said in a statement.

    By installing a dedicated transmission line to Vietnam, power from the wind farm, which is set to begin commercial operations by 2023, will be sold to national utility Vietnam Electricity for 25 years.

    It is expected that Vietnam’s growing economy will have high demand for power, especially during the dry season, when hydropower generation is limited.

    The onshore wind farm is being developed as part of a memorandum of understanding on power interchange signed between the Vietnamese and Lao governments in October 2016.

    It is expected to be the first cross-border electricity interchange from wind power generation in Southeast Asia.

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  • Vietnam to reduce thermal power production

    Vietnam to reduce thermal power production

    Vietnam targets reducing coal-fired power production by 6 percent this year to prioritize solar and wind energy even as it grapples with limited transmission capacity.

    This means a cut of 8 billion kilowatt-hours from a projected 126 billion kilowatt-hours of coal-fired power this year. National utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) estimates total production from all sources at 260 billion kilowatt-hours.

    EVN has also suspended around 8,000 megawatts of hydropower plant capacity from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. every day in the first four months of this year to prioritize solar power intake, which peaks at noon.

    However, reducing the intake from coal-fired and hydropower plants comes with consequences, with the rising frequency of turbine restarts increasing the risk of system failures.

    The number of restarts due to oversupply last year surged 2.6 times over 2019 to 192. In the first four months this year alone, there were 334 restarts.

    With these cuts, EVN seeks to prioritize solar and wind power intake and also wants to double their production from last year to 32 kilowatt-hours this year.

    Solar and wind power capacity is set to hit 20,000 megawatts this year, accounting for 30 percent of the total supply.

    But due to the limited capacity of the transmission lines, renewable energy only accounts for 12 percent of total production. The figure is set to rise to 17 percent in the next five years.

    The rest of the production comes from traditional sources like thermal power and hydropower.

    EVN has earlier said it will also cut 15-20 percent of solar and wind power capacity to reduce pressure on the national grid.

    “Cutting down renewable energy is something EVN does not desire because it hurts developers,” Nguyen Duc Ninh, director of the National Load Dispatch Center under EVN, said at a meeting Tuesday.

    The dilemma that Vietnam faces now, having an oversupply of renewable energy but limited transmission capacity, has happened because of poor management and planning, experts say.

    Tran Dinh Long, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Electrical Engineering Association (VEEA), said that the boom in solar power in recent years shows a lack of anticipation of the burden they would place on the national grid.

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  • Vietnam plans more solar, wind power cuts

    Vietnam plans more solar, wind power cuts

    Vietnam is set to cut up to 1.74 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy in the second half this year to deal with national grid overload.

    A plan proposed by the National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC), under the national utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) intends to cut 180 million kilowatt-hours per month in the third quarter and 350-400 million kilowatt-hours per month in the last quarter.

    This time frame corresponds with the expected third and further quarter annual flooding in the northern, and central-southern regions, respectively, when hydropower power supply would increase.

    The proposed amount of 1.74 billion kilowatt-hours is 34 percent higher than EVN’s previous plan to cut 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy this year.Cutting solar and wind power has been the go-to solution for EVN since last year, after a surge in the number of such plants strained the national grid.

    As solar power plants depend on the number of sunshine hours during the day, authorities still have to rely on traditional sources such as coal, gas and hydropower to ensure grid stability.

    This is why solar power, whose output could fluctuate by up to thousands of megawatts in seconds depending on the intensity of sunlight, is the first to be cut when there is an overload.

    Another reason for the output cut is slower growth in consumption. Last year, due to Covid-19 impacts, demand grew by less than 2.5 percent compared to 10 percent in previous years.

    The cuts have hurt renewable energy developers. A leader of a solar power company in the central province of Ninh Thuan, who asked not be identified, said his plant has seen output cut since the end of last year.

    The company has to bear losses of hundreds of million Vietnamese dong (VND100 million = $4,300) each month, not to mention suffer interest payment to banks, he added.

    The Phu Lac Wind Power Plant in the central province of Binh Thuan is also suffering output cuts.

    The plant’s CEO, Bui Van Thinh, said both developers and EVN were victims in this situation as the number of new plants exceed the government’s original plan, while there is a lack of synchronization in source and transmission investment.

    The transmission line has reached its max capacity as dozens of plants come online, he said, adding: “Our revenues have plunged and the situation is tense.”

    Although energy authorities had earlier warned of power shortages this year, the boom in renewable power development has in reality created an oversupply, creating problems for EVN.

    Solar capacity surged to 19,400 megawatts-peak at the end of last year, accounting for 25 percent of total power capacity. This capacity came from over 100 farms and 101,000 rooftop constructions.

    Last year, authorities cut solar power by a total of 365 million kilowatt-hours after the Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan grids were overloaded.

  • Vietnam power utility unit to go public

    Vietnam power utility unit to go public

    A $2-billion power generation unit of state-owned utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) will have an initial public offering on the country’s main bourse next month.

    The Power Generation Corporation 2 (EVNGENCO 2), based in the southern city of Can Tho, will issue nearly 580 million shares on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, or nearly 49 percent of its charter capital, on February 8.

    The offering will have a reference price of VND24,520 ($1.05) per share.

    Tran Phu Thai, chairman of EVNGENCO 2, said at a forum Thursday that the company, wholly-owned by EVN, was valued at around VND46.1 trillion ($2 billion) as of January 1, 2019. No updated valuation was available at the time of publishing.

    The company, which has been operating for seven years, had an installed capacity of 4,421 megawatts by the end of last year, accounting for 15.1 percent of EVN’s output.

    It is also developing 59 megawatts of renewable energy.

    Over half of its non-renewable energy capacity comes from coal-fired plants, 30 percent from hydropower plants, and the rest from oil-fired plants.

    Last year, its profits exceeded the annual target by 59 percent at nearly VND3.93 trillion.

    The IPO is part of EVN’s effort to equitize its subsidiaries. It had earlier completed the equitization of EVNGENCO 3 and is in the process of equitizing EVNGENCO.

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  • Vietnam gives second electricity discount as Covid-19 relief

    Vietnam gives second electricity discount as Covid-19 relief

    The government has cut electricity prices by 10 percent for the year’s last quarter to support economic recovery from Covid-19 impacts.

    The discount applies to businesses and households for a maximum of 300-kilowatt-hour consumption per month from October to December. Consumption above this limit will attract normal prices.

    Covid-19 quarantine centers will get a 100 percent discount on their electricity bills, while medical facilities that test and treat Covid-19 patients can enjoy getting a 20 percent discount.

    The government had already given a 10 percent discount in the second quarter, which was estimated to cost the state coffers nearly VND11 trillion ($476 million).

    The discounts came as Vietnam’s economy was badly hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic, with key sectors posted drastically reduced or even negative growth.

    In the first nine months, 31.8 million workers were affected by the pandemic, losing their jobs or having their working hours reduced, according to the General Statistics Office.

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  • Vietnam to purchase more power from Laos

    Vietnam to purchase more power from Laos

    National utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) has signed three memoranda to purchase power from Laotian companies amid expected energy shortages.

    EVN will buy power from two hydropower plants and one coal-fired power plant in neighboring country Laos starting 2024, according to the memorandums of understanding signed Sunday.

    The 84-megawatt Nam Yeuang hydropower plant and 300-megawatt Nam Phan coal-fired thermal power plant developed by Phongsubthavy Group are set to transmit electricity to Vietnam starting 2024 and 2025.

    Another hydropower plant, Nam Neun 1, with a capacity of 124-megawatt and developed by Kong Sup Hydro Development of Nam Neun 1 and Nam Neun 3, will also start delivering power to Vietnam in those two years.

    EVN in January signed five deals with two Laotian companies to purchase 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours of power each year in 2021 and 2022.

    The Ministry of Industry and Trade had earlier warned of power shortages of 3.7 billion kWh in 2021 and nearly 10 billion kWh the following year, as the construction of new thermal and gas-fired plants fall behind schedule.

    2023 will be the most stressful with the shortage expected to be around 15 billion kWh. From then on, it will decrease, with shortages expected to drop to 7 billion kWh and 3.5 billion kWh in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

    The ministry stated the only way out is to import more from Laos and China, although this is only a band-aid solution. In the long run, it would be necessary to speed up work on large power generation projects, it added.

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  • Thai company buys Vietnam solar farm

    Thai company buys Vietnam solar farm

    Thai energy firm Gunkul Engineering Plc has acquired the 50-megawatt Phong Dien II solar power plant in the central Thua Thien Hue Province for $39.9 million.

    The plant is set to begin commercial power generation on December 15 with a feed-in tariff of 7.09 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour for 20 years.

    The acquisition is part of the company’s plan to expand in Southeast Asia in the renewable energy sector, which it says has low risk and high growth potential

    Other Thai investors have also made moves to buy solar power plants in Vietnam, taking advantage of the country’s incentive feed-in tariffs to promote solar energy amid growing demand for electricity.

    Other Thai energy firms have also been busy in Vietnam.

    Gulf Group increased its ownership of two solar farms in the southern province of Tay Ninh from 49 percent to 90 percent during the second quarter of this year.

    Super Energy Corporation has invested $457 million in four solar power plants in southern Vietnam.

    Power production by Vietnam’s 100 odd solar plants surged 2.3 times year-on-year in the first 10 months to 7.95 billion kilowatt-hours, according to Vietnam Electricity.

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