El Nio's impact and the issue of energy security

DNHN - This year, our planet is experiencing a doubling of global warming. In addition to the unstoppable rise in temperature caused by greenhouse gas emissions, El Nio is making a comeback, fueling fears of extreme weather and threatening energy security.

El Nino is also expected to impact hydropower production in Southeast Asia, as well as push up energy demand as businesses and homes increase the use of air conditioners.

Dr. Economics Tran Huu Hiep, a former full-time member and director of the Economic Department of the Southwest Steering Committee, has analysed the issue of energy security in a manner that not only addresses the need to replace El Nino but also ensures sufficient resources for future development.
The optimal solutions for three variables are the institutional framework and legal corridor: supply, demand, and equilibrium.
Electricity is a vital commodity for production and life, constituting a significant input for goods and services. Currently, electricity is a hot topic due to rising electricity prices and intermittent power outages during the summer, which disrupt people's activities and business production plans.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has decided to inspect Electricity of Vietnam's (EVN) management and electricity supply. Additionally, EVN decided to temporarily suspend the position of National Load Dispatch Centre Director... These events indicate that numerous internal bottlenecks in the power industry must be eliminated immediately in order to resolve the power shortage. minimize.

EVN is experiencing financial difficulties, as its loss in 2022 has surpassed 26,200 billion VND. The high cost of input fuels for electricity production, such as coal, oil, and gas, is cited as one explanation for the loss. In which the price of coal tripled, sometimes quadrupled, and the price of crude oil doubled. The structure of power generation sources continues to rely heavily on fossil fuels, despite their volatile costs and negative effects on human health and the environment.
In the meantime, a series of wind power and solar power projects that have been invested in have "stumbled - tripped" in a tangled mess not only for the power industry, but also with numerous related ministries - branches - municipalities. pertaining to the buying-selling mechanism, construction-investment procedures, etc., clean electricity businesses must reduce their capacity.
The government is responsible for implementing the facilitation mechanism, but EVN serves as the mechanism's advisory body. The problem of energy security in Vietnam must simultaneously find optimal solutions for three variables: supply, demand, and the balance of supply and demand, with the aid of an institutional framework and a legal framework.

The rapid growth of solar and wind power models or distributed power generation models is a new step in Vietnam's energy transition. Under the compensating mechanism, households are permitted to participate in electricity production and sale for the first time in the history of the electricity industry. Unfortunately, these new initiatives are still in their infancy and are immediately met with institutional resistance. Consequently, people continue to face electricity shortages, and the electricity industry continues to struggle.
In the current monopoly of electricity sales, when consumers yearn for a truly competitive electricity market, the slogan "the customer is king" can take on a humorous quality. The competition in the telecommunications industry has made mobile services more affordable. When will the electricity industry realise that competition is the key to unlocking its intrinsic strength?
The electricity purchase and sale mechanism as well as the electricity price mechanism continue to have numerous flaws. Customers who purchase a large quantity of electrical goods are not only discouraged, but must also bear high electricity prices to "cross-compensate" for energy-intensive industrial production; approximately 3,000 key energy users consumed up to one-third of the nation's electricity. If the transition to green and clean production is not made in a timely manner, the growth of the "intensive economy" will always be a drain on electricity.

Vietnam still lacks a competitive electricity market; EVN continues to operate under monopoly conditions. In the current context, market intervention by administrative orders is no longer appropriate; instead, it should be placed in the interest of the people and society as a whole, avoiding large shocks.

A non-market mechanism is incompatible with a market economy. The principal impediment to the energy transition is the management mechanism, which is a conflict of interests in which individuals are frequently on the losing side.

Phuoc Lap