‘Irrational’ to extend wind power price incentive deadline: minister
‘Irrational’ to extend wind power price incentive deadline: minister
Extending the incentive feed-in-tariff for wind power projects after Oct. 31 will be “irrational” and inequitable, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien has said.
Wind turbines in the central province of Binh Dinh. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh |
During a recent discussion in the National Assembly on socioeconomic development, many lawmakers had called on the ministry to extend the FIT incentive price past its October deadline to encourage investment.
But the minister said this would go against the principle of time-bound policies and be unfair to investors who built their plants in time to benefit from the higher tariff.
Besides, the prices of materials and equipment used in wind power plants have decreased since the time the incentive was announced, and would further decrease, he said.
If the deadline is extended, "There could be legal consequences, causing losses to the government and electricity users".
The feed-in-tariffs, or the price producers will get for their power, for offshore and onshore wind power were 9.8 cents and 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, applicable for 20 years, for plants that began commercial generation before Nov. 1.
Eighty four plants with a combined capacity of 3,980 MW will benefit from the tariffs, according to state-owned monopoly power distributor Vietnam Electricity.
