EVN to get power grid free

The Hiep Phuoc Power Co. (HPP) has agreed to hand over its grid to Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) for free in a deal under which the national utility will buy all power produced by the former at a fixed price.

HPP was willing to transfer its 15kV, 22kV, 110 kV and 110kV/15kV transformers in the Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park and Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone to EVN, according to Pham Hong Tien, head of the HPP’s Operation Division.

He said EVN would also discuss with Phu My Hung Co a similar transfer of transmission lines built by the latter in the Phu My Hung Urban Area.

Tien said HPP will operate and maintain the 110kV transmission line and related grids and manage customers for free until EVN can operate it.

Later, all contracts signed between HPP and its customers would be renewed by EVN.

Explaining the offer in a letter sent to city authorities last Tuesday, HPP General Director Zhang Yin Fu said it aimed to ensure uninterrupted power supply for the clients.

EVN should take over the power grid and sell power to all HPP customers from early May, Fu said.

If the plan was approved by EVN, it could supply power immediately to Hiep Phuoc IP, Tan Thuan EPZ and Phu My Hung Urban Area without making any additional investment, said Tien.

In return, Tien said, EVN should purchase all the power from HPP’s 375MW plant for US$0.17 per kilowatt hour.

Currently, half of HPP’s electricity output is bought by EVN and the remainder is sold to other customers five to 7.5 cents per kWh.

The proposal to hand over HPP’s transmission facilities was made after the company’s warning that power supply to Hiep Phuoc IP would be suspended from May 1 due to financial problems (caused by fuel price hikes) that it was facing.

The Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted an unnamed Government official as saying that the negotiation would last for months because the prices demanded by HPP were three to four times higher than the prices at which EVN was buying electricity from other plants in the country.

On April 21, HCM City asked the Government to establish a team comprising officials of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and EVN to assess the proposals from HPP so that the latter’s power grid could be handed over as soon as possible. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam electricity, Vietnam energy, Vietnam power shortage