‘The goal of 50% of rooftops having solar power is a big challenge’

The above content was said by Mr. Bui Quoc Hoan, Deputy General Director of the Southern Power Corporation (EVNSPC), at the discussion on Solutions to reduce pressure on electricity supply in the period 2026 – 2030, organized by the Industry and Trade newspaper in coordination with EVN and EVNSPC, on the morning of April 21.

According to Power Plan VIII, the goal is that by 2030, about 50% of office and household rooftops will have self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power (ie serving on-site needs, not sold into the national power system), with a scale of about 26,000 MW, equivalent to the capacity of 13 Hoa Binh hydroelectric plants. According to EVNSPC leaders, to realize this goal, a strong enough mechanism and synchronous implementation solutions are required in the context of rapidly increasing electricity demand.

The requirement to install rooftop solar power is even more urgent in the context that electricity demand is expected to increase in the future and supply is under pressure. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Trung, Deputy General Director of the National Electricity System and Market Operation Company (NSMO), said the electricity system is under great pressure as demand increases at an unprecedented rate.

On March 31, nationwide electricity consumption reached 1 billion kWh/day, much earlier than previous years; On April 8 alone, it reached 1.092 billion kWh, with a maximum capacity of 52,225 MW. It is forecasted that the milestone of 1.1 billion kWh/day may appear right after the April 30 holiday. “If the temperature increases by 1-2 degrees Celsius, the system will have to carry an additional capacity equivalent to a Hoa Binh hydroelectric plant,” Mr. Trung said.

Meanwhile, in terms of supply, Mr. Trung said that hydropower is declining due to lack of water, only meeting about 70 million kWh/day; Coal and gas thermal power plants also face risks due to fluctuations in fuel sources and the global energy market.

NSMO leaders believe that rooftop solar power is an important additional source. Currently, the capacity of this type reaches about 8,400 MW, providing 5-7% of daily electricity output. The advantages of rooftop solar power are quick deployment, less dependence on imported fuel and large potential of about 963,000 MW.

However, despite many advantages, the installation still faces many barriers that make the goal challenging.

Mr. Bui Trung Kien, Deputy General Director of Ho Chi Minh City Electricity Corporation, said that people are still skeptical when investing in rooftop solar power. The main reason is due to large initial costs and concerns about efficiency.

According to him, for households, installation procedures have now been simplified. People just need to notify the electricity industry via the switchboard, public service portal or customer care application to update the database and receive feedback and support.

The electricity industry is also ready to coordinate and provide technical advice to customers during the installation process. When installing rooftop solar power, people only need to notify the Department of Industry and Trade or the electricity industry through the Public Service Portal or customer care hotline and the electricity industry will contact them immediately.

“The procedure is very simple,” Mr. Kien said. However, according to him, the common investment cost of 100-200 million VND makes many households consider it. In addition, families that need to use a lot of electricity at night need an electricity storage system, but the investment cost for this technology is still a challenge.

From that reality, Mr. Kien proposed that there should be financial support policies to encourage people. The experience of some countries is to apply personal income tax incentives.

From a business perspective, Mr. Nguyen Thuong Quan, General Director of Sao Nam Integrated Technology Joint Stock Company, said the biggest barrier is belief in investment efficiency. “People are still concerned about costs and payback time, even though it’s only about 2-3.5 years now,” he said.

Mr. Trinh Quoc Vu, Deputy Director of Electricity (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said that the Ministry is building a mechanism to encourage the development of rooftop solar power and submit it to the Prime Minister, hoping to create new momentum for the market.

Citing an example from the previous period, Mr. Vu said that when applying the preferential electricity purchase price (FiT) mechanism, Vietnam quickly developed more than 19,000 MW of solar power. “In 2017, although the average retail electricity price was only about 1,732 VND/kWh, we still accepted to buy solar power at a price equivalent to more than 2,000 VND/kWh, showing great determination,” he said.

Today, thanks to technological advances, the cost of solar power, both large-scale and rooftop, has decreased significantly, while the retail price of electricity has increased to about 2,204 VND/kWh. This creates more favorable conditions for developing solar power sources.

Mr. Vu also believes that traditional electricity prices may continue to fluctuate due to dependence on input fuel, while rooftop solar power has more stable costs and clear efficiency. Therefore, people and businesses need to fully identify the benefits to boldly invest in the coming time.