Vietnam aims to remove obstacles facing renewable energy projects by Jan 2025

The government strives to solve problems facing renewable energy projects by January 31, 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at a Thursday conference on the government’s policy to aid such projects.

As renewable energy is a new sector in Vietnam and the legal framework is underdeveloped, some violations like those detected by the Government Inspectorate are inevitable, he noted.

"The government’s solutions aim to ensure resources not to be wasted and fortify investors’ confidence. It strives not to handle violations with criminal proceedings, especially for projects without consequences," the Prime Minister told the meeting.

The government’s policy is to adjust the planning to accelerate projects without impacting the country's security-defense and key projects.

Regarding projects with procedural entanglements related to land and construction, the government will allow projects to finalize their procedures in line with the law, he stressed.

For projects that violated the planning on natural resources and defense-security, the policy is to compare their socioeconomic efficiency and the planning. In some cases, the planning can be adjusted to facilitate projects.

For those that did not meet the requirements for preferential feed-in-tariffs (FiTs), the solution is to recalculate the tariffs in a fair manner, and they must compensate for the unfair gains via electrical bills.

Besides, the PM asked state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) to collaborate with ministries and investors to solve problems, with a focus on helping renewable energy projects complete power purchase agreements with EVN.

As of end 2023, renewable energy (wind and solar power) in Vietnam reached 21,664 MW, or 27% of the total capacity. Renewables generation was only 27.32 billion kWh, or 13% of the total generation.