On the afternoon of November 7, the National Assembly discussed the draft Law on Electricity (amended) in the hall. Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien explained and accepted the issues raised by the delegates.
Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said that this amendment to the Electricity Law only addresses major issues, fundamental issues, issues that without which current bottlenecks cannot be resolved.
There are 3 main groups, including correcting inappropriate mechanisms and policies, because if they are unclear and contradictory, "no one will enter". At the same time, the draft law adds new policies to develop new energy sources, including wind and solar energy or develop new energy sources such as Hydrogen, green ammonia, and develop nuclear power.
“By 2030 we need to double the current capacity, but by 2050, which is 26 years away, we need to 5 times the current capacity,” Minister Nguyen Hong Dien emphasized.
The Minister added that when traditional power sources have no room to develop, hydropower is gone, coal power cannot be developed, especially solar energy also has time and if we have to consider investment in electricity storage systems, it is not cheaper, so it is impossible to increase the current capacity by 7 times with renewable energy.
"Therefore, in the future, nuclear power and new energy sources are definitely required," said Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, adding that in order to have these things, in practice these contents must be mentioned in the law.
“What is clearly stipulated in the law, we will stipulate. If it is not clear, we will give that authority to the Government and the Government will direct, regulate and take specific steps. Only then, after 10 years, we will have nuclear power projects,” Minister Nguyen Hong Dien added.
According to the Minister, in reality, there are projects that have been assigned to investors for decades, even nearly 20 years, but they have enough reasons not to implement them.
Thus, the power shortage is due to the fact that previous projects did not have any attraction mechanism, only applying general mechanisms to investment projects, while power projects are specific.
“If it is planned, it must be done. If it is assigned, it must be done. If it cannot be done, it must be revoked. That is the way it should be. The whole country cannot just sit and wait for a few investors. Therefore, we see that these are issues that cannot be solved without regulations,” said Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien.
According to the Minister, delegates said that the potential for renewable energy is huge, but without mechanisms and policies, it is impossible to open up to the maximum possible capacity for localities. The needs of localities are very large, so if we allow the strong development of storage systems, we will naturally exploit the potential for renewable energy in localities, especially solar power and onshore wind power.
Regarding electricity prices, Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien said that there is now a price framework regulated by the Law on Prices and the Law on Electricity. Within that framework, the Government will specify how to set the price framework, based on the price framework negotiated by the parties, not one party "taking advantage" of the other.
“The regulations are very clear, the price framework is available, we cannot say there is no market, no competition, we must negotiate, if we don't negotiate, I will withdraw and stop the project” – the Minister further emphasized.
