The owner of an export business told me: “If we don’t have solar power, they won’t buy from us.”
This business, located in a northern province, employs thousands of workers and manufactures various products for export to the EU and the U.S.
Their buyers have officially required that factories must use renewable energy to continue doing business in the coming years, with the percentage of renewable energy increasing annually.
To meet these requirements, factories have two options: either purchase electricity directly from a renewable energy project or install solar panels on their rooftops.
The first option is only available to large factories. The recently issued Decree on Direct Power Purchase Agreements (DPPA) stipulates that eligible factories must be large consumers, using an average of 200,000 kWh per month. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, only about 7,000 electricity consumers meet this criterion.
Many factories participating in supply chains for exports to developed countries do not qualify. These factories can only opt for rooftop solar installations, but this solution is currently awaiting policy approval. Meanwhile, policy discussions seem to be going off track, leaving many issues unresolved.
First, rooftop solar panels, based on calculations, can only meet about 20% of energy demand. While this may satisfy foreign buyers in the initial years, additional renewable energy sources will be required in the future.
Second, there are regulatory obstacles. The National Power Development Plan VIII contains conflicting statements regarding self-consumption rooftop solar power. It states: “From now until 2030, the capacity of this energy source is expected to increase by 2,600 MW. This type of energy source is prioritized for development with no capacity limit…” A businessman reading this asked me: “So, will rooftop solar power be limited to an additional 2,600 MW, or is there no capacity limit?”
This allocation seems too small compared to business demand. An industrial park in Hai Phong stated: “Hai Phong was allocated 107 MW. However, an initial survey of industrial zones shows that the actual demand is no less than 400 MW.” If they are only allowed to install 107 MW, many businesses in Hai Phong will have to abandon exports to developed countries. This issue is not unique to Hai Phong—businesses in other regions are also concerned, especially in key economic zones like the Red River Delta and the Southeast.
Beyond power planning, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has also cited the National Master Plan to justify its stance on solar power development. In its draft decree on rooftop solar, the ministry stated that “rooftop solar in the Red River Delta and the Southeast should not be developed.” The reasoning is that the National Master Plan does not prioritize renewable energy development in these two regions as it does in others across the country.
A planning expert told me, “This is like saying you can’t open a pho restaurant because there’s no plan for pho.” However, the law strictly prohibits “violating planning regulations,” and many officials have faced legal consequences for doing so.
The third challenge is the investment mechanism for installing solar panels.
Manufacturers producing export goods typically lack the workforce, experience, and capital to invest in rooftop solar installations. Meanwhile, there are already many solar energy companies (let’s call them “solar companies”) in the market that are ready to collaborate. Under this partnership model, the solar company would fully invest in the solar panel system and handle operations and maintenance. The factory would use the electricity generated and pay the solar company based on the amount of electricity consumed.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade argues that this model does not align with the rooftop solar development policy, as it constitutes electricity trading, which goes against the intended self-consumption model.
I recently discussed this policy debate with the business owner mentioned earlier. Many discussions have focused on whether to allow selling electricity back to the grid and at what price. Initially, regulations prohibited selling to the grid, setting the price at zero. The draft decree has since evolved to permit selling 20% of capacity at the average price of the previous year.
He sighed, “We don’t care about that. What we care about is being allowed to proceed so we can maintain our orders. If we can’t, the factory will have to shut down.”
I said, “But wouldn’t it still be better if you could get some extra money for it?”
He thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Not necessarily. If they start paying for solar power, the biggest beneficiaries will be residential rooftop solar, not factories. If too many households install solar panels, the remaining capacity in the plan for factories will shrink.”
Solar power is inherently an unstable energy source. If developed excessively, it can negatively impact the national power grid. Many countries that have overdeveloped solar energy have faced voltage fluctuations, rising costs in power generation, transmission, and distribution. As a result, the share of solar power in the overall energy mix has to be limited.
Since there is already a cap, it makes sense to allocate this power source to where it is needed most—factories producing export goods.
A global corporation that sources products from Vietnam told me that they have started exploring suppliers in Bangladesh. If the solar power issue remains unresolved in Vietnam, more orders will be shifted to Bangladesh in the coming years.
A solar company owner recently shared with me his plan to “move to Cambodia for business.” This is a company with expertise and financial resources. They cannot afford to sit around waiting for policies—they need to find a way to keep their employees working.
He said, “Money has to move—money doesn’t wait for policy.”
Nguyễn Minh Đức
Source : https://vnexpress.net/co-keo-dien-mat-troi-4798054.html
