Simple and convenient policy, no new procedures arise

On the morning of August 13, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting to review and give opinions on the draft Decree on self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power.

At the meeting, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that after receiving opinions from ministries, branches, businesses, and experts, the Ministry has adjusted and supplemented the incentive policy in the direction: Organizations and individuals installing self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power without connecting to the national power system are given priority to develop unlimited capacity and are exempted from electricity operation licenses.

Organizations and individuals installing self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power connected to the national power system are exempted from electricity operation licenses.

In case of self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power with an installed capacity of over 1 MW and choosing to sell surplus electricity to the national power system, organizations and individuals must carry out procedures to request a power operation license according to the provisions of law.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has received comments from ministries, branches and the Hanoi People's Committee on shortening and simplifying the procedures for registration of development, the process of investment, construction, and acceptance of self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power.

Accordingly, households and individual houses must provide installation design drawings and copies of construction permits for existing works (if any) in accordance with the provisions of law.

The remaining subjects (factories, industrial parks, offices, etc.) provide solar power installation design drawings, copies of investment policies, construction permits, fire prevention and fighting acceptance tests, results of acceptance tests of existing construction works, etc.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to consider regulations on granting certificates of registration for developing self-produced and self-consumed solar power in private homes and offices to be as simple as possible, without creating new administrative procedures.

Sold up to 20% of installed capacity

Regarding the plan to buy and sell surplus electricity to the national power system, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed a rate of 20% of actual installed capacity in the North and 10% in the remaining regions.

Vietnam Electricity Group will pay organizations and individuals for the surplus electricity output to the national power system at an applied price less than or equal to the average market electricity price in the previous year announced by the power system and electricity market operator to ensure appropriate incentives in each development period of the national power system.

General Director of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) Nguyen Anh Tuan said that the entire North currently has about 700 MW of rooftop solar power, while the system capacity can receive about 7,000 MW.

Mr. Do Van Nam, Member of the Board of Members of the Northern Power Corporation, calculated that with the provisions in the draft Decree, people will save when using electricity during peak hours.

With the price of selling excess electricity to the system, after about 5-6 years, households can recover their investment capital, while the lifespan of a solar panel is currently about 12-15 years.

"There is still a lot of room for rooftop solar power development in the North, so there must be policies to encourage investment and effective development," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized and requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review load demand, transmission capacity, and system safety as a basis for adjusting planning and implementation plans, opening "room" for self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power, especially in the North.

In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to study and agree on the rate of selling surplus electricity from self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power to the national power system at 20% of the actual installed capacity.

The draft Decree also adds regulations on acceptance of the metering system and remote metering data collection, on-site monitoring and control system and information connection with the collection, monitoring and control system of the distribution dispatch level of self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power connected to the national power system.

Accordingly, the installed capacity level of less than 100 kWh will be connected to the power unit's system. The installed capacity level of more than 100 kWh (whether or not selling surplus electricity to the national power system) must be connected to the power distribution control level.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that there must be technical management solutions to control the capacity of self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power sources to ensure system safety; especially power sources connected to the medium-voltage grid.

In addition, at the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade, EVN, and relevant units to calculate the load demand, the ability to ensure system safety, and the transmission network in localities and regions when mobilizing self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power connected to the national power system, to submit to the Prime Minister for adjustment of the national power development plan.

Regarding transitional regulations for organizations and individuals that have developed self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power in the national power development planning period after December 31, 2020, the draft Decree stipulates that organizations and individuals that have installed self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power that is not connected to the national power system must send relevant information to the competent authority that issues the development certificate to record the scale and location.

Households and individual houses that have installed self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power connected to the national power system must send relevant information to the competent authority that issues the development certificate to record the scale and location.

In case of registration to add surplus electricity to the national power system, it shall be implemented according to the provisions of this Decree.