Electricity temporarily suspends payment for solar power: Fierce debate about responsibility
Faced with the risk of electricity shortage in the summer, EVN proposes to develop solar power in the North. However, there is still controversy about the problems occurring in southern projects, when many invested businesses are at risk of bankruptcy.
Mr. Le Anh Vu - director of Energy Source Company Limited - said that in the past, installing solar power was quite simple, but later there were fires on the roof and potential safety risks if the system was installed. The roof does not bear enough force.
Therefore, ensuring safety regulations for rooftop solar power projects is necessary.
Tighten because of fear of responsibility?
Exchange with Youth On May 31, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy - investor of a number of rooftop solar power projects in the South - said that the key issue leading EVN to temporarily suspend payment of electricity bills is the requirement that investors provide Construction safety records and fire and explosion prevention safety records.
However, the biggest problem that makes investors frustrated is the construction permit regulations that some construction departments require projects to have. The Binh Duong Department of Construction believes that a rooftop solar power system is a construction project, a level IV industrial project, so it must apply for a construction permit.
Meanwhile, Mr. Truong Cong Vu - director of Global Energy Technology Joint Stock Company - said that the factory is a licensed construction project, the solar panels on the roof are just additional installed equipment. Therefore, rooftop solar power cannot be considered a construction project (different from a ground system).
However, Mr. Vu believes that if a license is required, there needs to be clear instructions on the procedures and which agency issues the license.
"Enterprises have contacted, but the construction industry replied that there is no basis to issue a construction permit for the system installed on the factory roof while the construction below already has a construction permit," Mr. Vu said. .
“I think the nature of the sudden stop in electricity bill payments is because the parties are too cautious and afraid of responsibility when regularly inspecting and checking the project, and in fact the management agencies also understand the problems. This is not due to businesses intentionally not complying," said a business leader.
The investor is responsible for completing the documents
Exchange with Youth, Mr. Vo Quang Lam - deputy general director of EVN - said that investors who have not fully met the relevant procedures are cases that the electricity industry considers "lacking documents".
Therefore, while waiting for investors to supplement relevant documents and procedures, EVN shall comply with the provisions of Article 5 of the sample power purchase contract (applicable to rooftop solar power projects). : still record output on the grid but stop payment so that the investor can properly fulfill the obligations prescribed by law.
Mr. Lam also said that when implementing rooftop solar power projects, investors must fully comply with the regulations of the electricity industry as well as other specialized regulations. When signing a power purchase contract, investors must sign a commitment with the electricity industry to complete all relevant legal documents. The electricity industry only does post-inspection.
During post-inspection, if there is none, additional requirements will be required to comply with regulations. After having all relevant regulatory documents, implementation will continue according to the electricity purchase contract signed by the parties.
A representative of the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy emphasized that the Prime Minister's Decision 13/2020 stipulated that with rooftop solar power systems, investing organizations and individuals must ensure the following requirements: requirements on electrical safety, construction safety, environment, fire and explosion prevention according to current regulations.
"These regulations are very clear and it is the investor's responsibility to know that, that is, when building and implementing a project, they must be responsible for meeting specialized requirements" - this person said that the handling of When the electricity industry continues to record electricity output to the grid, requiring units to supplement the required documents and then make payments, it also shows goodwill, avoiding the power sources that have invested in having to stop supplying electricity to the grid. system.
The electricity industry needs to pay
However, many opinions believe that it is unreasonable for EVN to temporarily suspend payments even though it still sends electricity to the grid to sell and collect money from people.
The leader of a large solar power business headquartered in the South emphasized that many projects borrow money from banks, so if the electricity company all stops paying electricity bills, many investors will easily default. The harmonious solution is that EVN will temporarily still pay for electricity, but require the investor to sign a commitment to complete the procedures according to regulations.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy said that businesses themselves borrow from banks to rent roofs to implement projects with stable revenue of over 200 million VND/MW in recent times. Therefore, when EVN stops making payments, investors fall into a situation of jumping into the bad debt group and even going bankrupt.
“We have authorized banks to work with EVN to recover the amount of electricity that EVN has recorded for output but has not yet paid. Investors themselves want EVN to still pay electricity bills while we are completing the prescribed procedures," Mr. Huy said.
Not granted but still demanded A representative of a business investing in solar power in many southern provinces and cities said that EVN's temporary suspension of electricity payments mainly falls on projects installed in 2020. At that time, the business contacted the Department of Construction. provinces to complete installation procedures but were informed that there were no instructions, so there was no basis for issuance. This person also confirmed that when many businesses were refused payment by EVN, waiting for procedures to be completed, the businesses applied for construction permits. But many construction departments continue to refuse because it is impossible to create a "reverse process" of issuing permits for existing works. |
It can't be the same in every place Talking to Tuoi Tre, a representative of the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy said that one of the current problems is that due to the small-scale nature of rooftop solar power projects, regulations on construction and prevention Fire fighting, environment... will be managed by the locality and each locality has its own requirements in these regulations. Mr. Truong Cong Vu said that ministries and branches that promulgate regulations need to quickly remove problems for investors, and cannot "push" everything to localities while each locality has its own regulations. |
According to Tuoi Tre Online