Small hydropower enterprises in Vietnam cry exploitation

Small hydropower enterprises in Vietnam complained that it is forced to sell power to Vietnam Electricity at low rates.

This would then be passed by EVN toconsumers at a higher retail price.

The hydropower enterprises were speaking at a forum on the development of small hydropower plants hosted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Vietnam Energy Association.

Tran Viet Ngai, chairman of the Vietnam Energy Association said that Vietnam has a competitive power generating market; however there is no real competition as EVN holds monopoly.

Mr. Ngai proposed that businesses should be entitled to compete in the market independently to break monopoly.

According to Hung Hai Group, a hydropower investor, EVN pays them an average of VND650 a kW since 2006 and the price is still unchanged.

Meanwhile EVN increased its retail price to VND870.80 a kW in 2008 and continued to hike it by 57 percent to retail at VND1,369 in 2012.

EVN even paid them a low VND550 a kW in the rainy season this year. The plant output during rainy season accounts for upto 65-70 percent of its annual total output.

Sharing the same opinion, a representative of the Hung Hai Group said that none of the small businesses can sell their electricity to EVN at VND1,340 a kW.

A competitive power generating market was launched on July 1, in which electricity plants will offer their prices to the Electric Power Trading Company, a unit of the State-owned Vietnam Electricity.

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