At the end of March, Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) issued Document 1532 to remove invoice problems for the rooftop solar power (DMT) model (TMN). In recent days, Ho Chi Minh City Electricity Corporation (EVNHCMC) is signing contracts to create a basis for paying electricity bills for investors of this model.y.

Investment costs decreased sharply

In 2017, Associate Professor-Dr. Le Anh Tuan, Can Tho University, installed 16 solar panels on the roof with an investment cost of 130 million VND. The amount of electricity produced exceeds his family's consumption needs. He "divides" some of it for his neighbors to use without selling it to the grid because he cannot collect money from selling it. In addition to the benefit of having electricity to serve the family's needs, since installing batteries, the house is shaded by solar panels so it is cooler and the amount of electricity used for cooling devices is also reduced. With such benefits, early this year he decided to install 8 more panels, the cost was only 22 million VND (thanks to the existing infrastructure, investment costs were also significantly reduced).

Mr. Tuan said he is waiting to sign a sales contract with local electricity. Since Decision 11 took effect, he has been thinking about leasing contracts for large rooftops to produce clean electricity, to join hands in protecting the environment.

According to Mr. Pham Quoc Bao, General Director of EVNHCMC, 7-8 years ago to produce 1 kWp required an investment of about 60-70 million VND, but now the price has dropped sharply, on average only 20-21 million/kWp. On average, 1 kWp in the city generates about 3 - 5 kWh of electricity/day.

Ho Chi Minh City is very favorable for investing in solar power, and this type of energy can easily connect to the grid. Along with that, the electricity trading mechanism has also been dismantled. EVNHCMC's goal in 2019 will be to mobilize customers to install 50 - 80 MW. To invest in the above amount of solar power, a budget of 1,000 - 1,500 billion VND is required. Now, having a flexible trading mechanism that mobilizes social participation will be a very good solution.

With the current solar PV selling price mechanism of 9.35 US cents/kWh, equivalent to 2,086 VND/kWh, investors can recoup their investment capital in about 4 years, while the lifespan of the panels lasts from 15 - 20 years.

The number of projects increased rapidly

In Ho Chi Minh City, people's need to develop solar power is very large, especially when electricity prices have recently increased dramatically. By the end of 2018, Ho Chi Minh City had only 906 grid-connected solar power models with a total installed capacity of 10,382 kWp. And now, this model has increased to 1,432 with an installed capacity of 17.46 MWp.

Thus, in less than 4 months, the number of solar power projects in Ho Chi Minh City increased by 526 projects, accounting for more than 50% of the total number of projects from before to the end of 2018 combined. On average, every day in Ho Chi Minh City, up to 4.5 solar power projects are deployed and connected to the grid.

The World Bank (WB) in Vietnam is also coordinating with the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City to survey 150 buildings with potential for installing solar power systems. According to the WB, the technical potential of the TPP model in Ho Chi Minh City is up to 6,300 MW.

The attraction of solar power in the Central Highlands is as "hot" as in the Eastern and Southwest regions. Standing on the high floor of Saigon Ban Me Hotel, it is easy to see many buildings installed with solar panels such as the provincial post office, city commercial center and many households.

For the convenience of organizations, individuals, households, and power companies, they organize to receive registration of TPP installation needs through many forms: phone, email, Zalo, Chat box... Owner Investors only need to submit a request to sell electricity to the power company 3 days before the project completion time. Within 3 days of receiving the investor's request to sell electricity, the power company must complete the inspection of the project's technical parameters and sign an electricity purchase contract with the investor.

Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper