Vietnam may face power price hike in 2019
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said at the government regular meeting on December 3 that his ministry has drafted four scenarios in building power price schemes in 2019.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has said that it will report power price schemes to the government’s Price Management Committee by the end of this month with the possibility of price hike in 2019. 
Deputy Minister of Trade Do Thang Hai at a government meeting. Photo: Vietnamnet
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Supporting a possible price hike, Hai said that Vietnam Electricity (EVN) under the the ministry’s umbrella suffered a loss of VND2.2 trillion (US$96.4 million) in 2017.
He said the ministry will work out the power prices taking into consideration the impacts that the power price hike may cause to economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP), consumer price index (CPI), and large power consumers as well.
According to him, the power output for 2019 would range from 242 to 243.5 billion kWh and the ministry might mobilize additional 2-7 billion kWh from diesel-generated sources with high prices. But the top mission is to ensure sufficient electricity for 2019, he affirmed.
Relating to the issue, media has repeatedly mentioned the possibility of power shortage in 2019 after EVN claimed that its power plants were working below maximum capacity due to insufficient water and thin coal supply.
Meanwhile, Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Holding Corporation (Vinacomin) blamed EVN for signing short-term purchasing contracts which are leaving Vinacomin passive in supplying.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the government meeting on Dec 3. Photo: Chinhphu.vn
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Under the government’s regulations, EVN is allowed to raise the power prices between 3% and less than 5% each time every six months once it suffers a rise from 5% in the input cost.
The latest power price hike was made in December 2017. The average power price is VND1,720 (US7.4 cent)/kWh.
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