Power planning and electricity prices are key monitoring contents.

On the morning of October 12, the National Assembly Standing Committee reviewed and commented on the report on the results of the thematic supervision of "the implementation of policies and laws on energy development in the 2016-2021 period".

Electricity is the key issue to monitor.

At the meeting, Secretary General of the National Assembly, Head of the National Assembly Office Bui Van Cuong said that this is a very important monitoring topic, with many monitoring subjects, wide and complex content, and deep expertise. Over the past time, the Monitoring Team has worked urgently and actively, gathering information and large data to serve as a basis for monitoring this topic.

The Secretary General of the National Assembly said that during the supervision process, a number of issues emerged, namely that the system of legal documents has not yet ensured stability, comprehensiveness and unity. There are 21 groups of issues that need to be considered for amendment of legal documents, and 2 new laws have been proposed to consider adjusting the state management of this issue.

In particular, the implementation of energy planning faces many difficulties and obstacles, especially in mobilizing capital for technology development, human resources and management mechanisms. The goal of ensuring national energy security faces many challenges, domestic supply sources have not met the requirements and there is a risk of power shortage in the short and long term. The prerequisites for forming an electricity market have not been implemented, and policies on electricity prices, coal prices, gas prices and petrol prices have not been completed.

Secretary General of the National Assembly and Head of the National Assembly Office Bui Van Cuong speaks. Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

The monitoring results report also pointed out the main shortcomings and limitations in legal policies as well as the implementation of policies and laws on energy growth and recommended short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions.

Secretary General of the National Assembly Bui Van Cuong suggested that, based on the conclusions of the Standing Committee, the Supervisory Delegation will focus on completing the report, draft Resolution and ask for written opinions from the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, to send in writing to the National Assembly at the 6th Session.

Explaining and clarifying some contents raised at the discussion session, Chairman of the Committee on Science , Technology and Environment, Deputy Head of the Standing Supervisory Delegation Le Quang Huy said that this is a supervisory topic with a wide scope, complex content, and limited implementation resources. The Supervisory Delegation has made many efforts in implementing the work.

Regarding the new and key points in the draft Resolution, the Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment said that electricity is the key issue, and sub-sectors such as oil and gas and coal are all focused on electricity production. "Facing the issue of energy security and ensuring electricity supply, the most difficult thing is electricity price. That is the key issue of supervision" - Mr. Le Quang Huy emphasized.

Regarding electricity prices, the Supervisory Delegation proposed focusing on two issues, including financial investment mechanisms in the electricity sector; ensuring financial investment mechanisms related to ensuring electricity security.

Regarding ensuring a fair energy transition, this is an important goal in the roadmap to ensuring fair energy and zero emissions, requiring support and commitment from the international community, from capital, technology to governance capacity. The monitoring team will clarify this aspect.

For key projects, the Supervisory Team has detailed appendices on this content, and the full report also has detailed information on each project, each problem and difficulty. Regarding the draft Resolution, the Supervisory Team will study to restructure the structure, make assessments, comments, propose specific, key tasks and solutions, and supplement issues on planning, energy reserves, energy supply, social policies, employment, etc. that the public is interested in.

Commenting at the meeting, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong stated that it is necessary to assess the recent bottlenecks and difficulties in managing electricity prices, coal prices, gas prices and petrol prices, their causes and responsibilities. In addition, it is necessary to assess more carefully the current implementation of the Power Plan VII, adjust the problems between planning and power transmission when there is a surplus of electricity but it cannot be connected to the national grid... "These are issues that need to clearly identify the causes and specific responsibilities of local agencies and management units to propose measures in the coming time, and make recommendations to the Government to direct the resolution of key issues" - the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly stated.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong also proposed identifying key solutions on scenarios to ensure energy safety; key solutions on the issue of master planning with sub-sector planning, handling the inadequacies of sector planning that cause great waste of social and business resources when there is a mismatch between capacity and power transmission; key solutions on energy infrastructure, science and technology, energy technology and the energy market.

Agreeing with the opinions, Deputy Inspector General of the Government Le Sy Bay said that this is a very difficult, complicated, broad supervision topic, requiring deep expertise and receiving great public attention. Through the report of the Supervisory Delegation, the Government Inspectorate requested the Supervisory Delegation and the National Assembly to consider adding recommendations on issues of public concern, and the Government is also very determined in implementing such as: adjusting the electricity and gasoline price mechanism, managing power sources and grids. Agencies have been and are taking action, focusing on inspecting and examining this issue.

The Government Inspectorate also requested the Supervisory Delegation to add to the National Assembly's Resolution clearer recommendations on planning and implementation of planning of energy-related sub-sectors such as planning for electricity and petroleum...

Affirming that the monitoring topic "Implementation of policies and laws on energy development in the 2016-2021 period" is very important, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue suggested that the issuance of the Resolution must create a different change in practice because some contents in the report and draft resolution are still qualitative.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized that supervision must point out the responsibilities of relevant agencies and organizations. The focus of supervision activities should be on the implementation of the Power Plan VII and the plan to implement the Power Plan VIII. The issuance of the Resolution should point out major issues that need to be implemented in the coming period, including equitable energy transition; removing institutional and policy bottlenecks in energy development; supplementing data and updating the actual situation in the draft Resolution...

Many challenges in energy development

According to the report, in the period of 2016 - 2021, with the correct strategic orientation of the Party, the active participation of the entire political system and the participation and support of the people, our country's energy sector has had rapid and relatively synchronous development in all sub-sectors and fields; closely following the orientation and achieving many specific goals set out. Energy supply, especially basic electricity supply, has met the requirements of economic and social development with increasingly improved quality.

However, the monitoring report also pointed out some limitations and shortcomings. In particular, the implementation of the planning of energy sub-sectors still has many limitations and shortcomings, especially in the organization of the implementation of the Power Plan VII and the adjusted Power Plan VII for the development of solar power, wind power, and small hydropower. Investment in power sources and grids in the 2016-2021 period has not been synchronous and has not met the set targets. The infrastructure of the energy sector still has many shortcomings.

Regarding the use of energy economically and efficiently, energy transition, environmental protection, and response to climate change, energy consumption has increased significantly, the structure of energy consumption has shifted towards industrialization, and the use of energy economically and efficiently has received increasing attention; energy transition towards equity and sustainability has been focused on to fulfill Vietnam's international commitments on climate change.

However, the energy transition process in our country requires huge investment capital, changes in thinking, management methods, and technological innovation, while the scale of our economy is still modest, and the domestic energy market is increasingly dependent on the world energy market. The above situation continues to affect and pose many challenges for our country in energy development, especially ensuring short-term and long-term energy security.

To promote the achieved results, overcome limitations and shortcomings, and promptly adapt to the context in the new period, the Supervisory Delegation recommended that the National Assembly Standing Committee issue a Resolution on thematic supervision of the implementation of policies and laws on energy development in the 2016-2021 period.

According to VNA/Tin Tuc Newspaper

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