Vietnam eases restrictions on offshore wind power project sales under latest draft law

Investors can sell their stakes in offshore wind power projects in Vietnam with lesser restrictions, under the latest draft of the amended Law on Electricity.

According to the previous versions of the draft law, institutions and individuals as project investors cannot transfer a more than 49% stake of the projects prior to their operation. The government will provide further details for such sales, according to the previous draft law.

Under the latest draft, investors can sell their investments or capital contributions, as long as the transfers take place after the projects enter operation and generate electricity, and the buyers will inherit rights and obligations from the sellers.

The transfers must comply with other laws, such as tax laws, while the government will provide further details, according to the latest draft law.

The changes follow suggestions given by the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF), the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), state-owned Petrovietnam, EuroCham, Denmark’s Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and others.

Vietnam’s ambitious target of adding 5 GW of offshore wind power to the national capacity by 2030 may fall short, S&P Global Commodity Insight said.

Vietnam currently has no operational offshore wind power projects, although several foreign and domestic groups have shown interest in tapping this huge potential in that country that has more a coastline of 3,260 kilometers in length.

Recently, Norway's energy heavyweight Equinor has halted plans to develop offshore wind energy in Vietnam. The decision to not proceed with offshore wind business development activities in Vietnam is driven by its “early-stage project portfolio optimization,” Jacques Etienne Michel, country managing director of Equinor Vietnam, told The Investor.

Previously, in June 2023, Orsted's senior vice president and Asia-Pacific president Per Mejnert Kristensen had stated that this Danish wind power giant "paused market development activities in Vietnam."