Vietnam to set up power price stabilization fund

Vietnam's Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai has assigned the Ministry of Finance to create an operational mechanism for an electricity price stabilization fund.

Hai said establishing a competitive power market would be needed to attract investment into the industry.

The Government has permitted certain power plants to set prices based on market forces from May 1 to make an assessment.

Vietnam Electricity Group is required to convert electricity trading contracts with independent power plants before April 30.

EVN general director Pham Le Thanh clarified that EVN had not made any plan for increasing power prices for the time being.

Thanh explained that EVN has to report and obtain approval from the Government for any price increase scheme. EVN must weigh issues like inflation, macro economic stability and social
security before it makes any decision on power prices.

Currently, power prices can be adjusted when power production cost increases sharply, at 5% or more, due to higher input costs but the process must be monitored by the Government and ministries, Thanh added.

At the power saving conference of HCMC Power Corporation, Nguyen Tan Loc, deputy general director of EVN, said power prices might rise twice from now to the end of this year since input costs were surging.

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