Hanoi (VNS/VNA) –Vietnam’s solar power plants are facing a crisis in consumption of theirelectricity because there has not been synchronous development of powertransmission infrastructure or a suitable operation mechanism.

The National Load Dispatch Centre under the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) hasjust announced it is considering reducing the volume of electricity transmittedfrom all solar plants into the national grid to deal with overloadedtransmission lines.

The move would force all solar power plants to reduce their production belowcapacity, causing significant damage to investors, said Nguyen Duc Cuong, Directorof the centre.

The transmission line overloads are due to the rush with which investors movedto back solar projects, precluding synchronous planning and suitable renewableenergy development policies, Cuong said.

Electric transmission systems in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan are overloadedbecause they were not designed to handle the large number of solar plantslocated in the two central provinces, he said.

The central region is not one of the biggest electricity consumers in thecountry. The power sources must be connected to 220 KV and 500 KV grids totransmit electricity to far-away places.

According to the amended National Power Development Master Plan VII (for2011-30) that was approved in 2016, the country’s power production from allresources will reach a total capacity of 60,000 MW in 2020, 96,500 MW in 2025and 129,500 MW in 2030, with an average growth rate of 6,000-7,000 MW peryear. However, the proposed solar power capacity is just 850 MW in 2020,about 4,000 MW in 2025 and about 12,000 MW in 2030, reported NguoiLao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper.

✱[Challenges facing solar power development in Vietnam]

At present, Vietnam has 332 power plants in operation and under constructionwith a total estimated capacity of 26,900 MW. The country’s solar plants aremainly located in Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan provinces in central Vietnam, Cuongsaid.

According to the centre, purchase negotiations are ongoing for 749.63 MW ofsolar power from plants in Binh Thuan and 1,732.82 MW from plants in Ninh Thuan.

The market has seen a wave of investment into solar power plants since thedecision to set the purchase price of solar power at 9.35 US cents/KWh fromApril 2017.

Tran Viet Ngai, Chairman of the Vietnam EnergyAssociation, said that because the country has already exploited nearly all ofits hydropower resources, the development of renewable energy sources such aswind and solar power is essential.

While solar energy is widely available, Ngai said work must be done to use iteffectively. Without well-planned investment schemes and operating mechanisms,solar power will merely destabilise the electrical system and could lead togrid collapses.

Solar power plants only work when the sun is shining and storage batteries arefunctioning properly. For large-scale projects, the system works for three tofive hours; however, Ngai cautioned that advanced storage systems are veryexpensive.

Meanwhile, adding thousands of MW from solar power plants to the national gridrequires suitable load dispatch plans in case the solar plants stop generatingenergy.

This is a complicated process because solar power plants, localities and theelectricity sector must work together to build the dispatch plans, Ngai said.

The rapid development of solar and wind power plants has reduced the country’sreliance on power from resources that cause pollution.

However, Ngai said developing too many solar projects at the same time incertain places could lead to higher strain on the electrical grid,necessitating the construction of more transmission grids and transformerstations. Of course, these investment costs will be calculated into electricityprices.

Nguyen Duc Cuong said investment could not be executed too quickly because ittakes a lot of time to plan projects, arrange investment capital and getinvestment licences.

To accelerate the construction of transmission lines, Minister of Industry andTrade Tran Tuan Anh has asked the Government to allow the use of capital fromprivate investors to develop some transmission stations and grids for solar andwind power plants. After construction, the investors will hand the facilitiesover to the electricity industry to manage and operate them.-VNS/VNA