🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Depot charging economics depend on missing grid and tariff details

• The city plans seven-year leases at 19 bus terminals and yards, targeting VND 22 billion upfront 1. Public docs omit grid capacity per depot, TOU tariffs, and terms for third‑party access beyond bus priority 1.
• Vietnam Electricity (EVN) pilots a two-part tariff with VND 843/kWh off‑peak and VND 2,162/kWh peak, a 2.6× spread 2. Only 22:00–04:00 is off‑peak inside the city’s 9:00 pm–6:00 am window 1, and it is unclear whether this pilot with demand charges applies to depots 2.
• Plans call for 3,600 e‑buses by 2030 and about 393 super‑fast stations 3. The city has five stations today 1. The bid papers do not explain how 19 depots scale to that need or coordinate with private networks with 600 motorbike points and 50 swap sites 4.

Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) backends can earn from demand‑charge arbitrage for depots

• Vendors with OCPP backends (software that manages charger‑to‑cloud communications) can shift charging into EVN’s 22:00–04:00 off‑peak at VND 843/kWh vs. VND 2,162/kWh peak, a roughly 61% gap 2. That timing fits the city’s 9:00 pm–6:00 am bus window 1.
• Storage integrators add Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to buy at night and discharge during peak hours, while capping demand charges under EVN’s pilot, which lists up to VND 286,153/kW/month at low voltage 5.
• Hybrid solar‑plus‑storage developers pitch bundles to cut energy cost as the city explores solar 4 and as Resolutions 70 and 328 push market‑based pricing 6.