Vietnam's new regulations in energy, mineral and construction sectors

The Vietnamese government recently introduced the amended PDP8 implementation plan, the tariff for rooftop solar energy in 2025, new rules on management of construction activities, and the new Law on Geology and Minerals. Vilaf law firm provides analyses on these newly-promulgated regulations.

1. Amended PDP8 implementation plan

On April 1, 2024, the Prime Minister approved the Implementation Plan for the National Power Development Plan for the period 2021-2030 with a vision towards 2050 (PDP8 Implementation Plan) under Decision No. 262/QD-TTg.

Following a series of discussions and directives between the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Prime Minister in late 2024, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1682/QD-TTg on December 28, 2024 to amend and update the PDP8 Implementation Plan (Amended PDP8 Implementation Plan).

The Amended PDP8 Implementation Plan came into force immediately from its signing date of December 28, 2024, and all other provisions of the original PDP8 Implementation Plan remain valid.

The key contents of the Amended PDP8 Implementation Plan include (i) outlining the detailed lists of renewable energy projects (i.e. onshore and nearshore wind energy, small hydropower (i.e. hydropower with 30 MW or less), biomass and waste-to-energy projects) for 17 provinces that not yet covered in the initial PDP8 Implementation Plan; and (ii) amending the information (such as project name, operating phases) of several renewable energy projects that were already approved in the initial PDP8 Implementation Plan.

Notably, in the Amended PDP8 Implementation Plan, the MoIT specifically instructs the local authorities to continue reviewing the implementation of inspection decisions for projects included in those decisions, as well as addressing the legal issues of projects that overlap with other master plans during implementation.

For such overlapping projects, local authorities must seek opinion from the relevant authorities before approving the investment and must ensure that a project is only allowed to proceed after all legal and overlapping issues have been resolved, and that no efforts are made to “legitimize any wrongful actions.”

It should be further noted that just a few days after the issuance of the Amended PDP8 Implementation Plan, the Prime Minister on December 31, 2024 issued Decision No. 1710/QD-TTg approving the tasks for adjusting the National Power Development Plan for the period 2021-2030, with a vision towards 2050 (i.e. PDP8).

2. Tariff for rooftop solar energy in 2025

In accordance with Official Letter No. 78/EVN-KD+TCKT dated January 3, 2025 sent from EVN to the power corporations, the tariff for rooftop solar electricity in 2025 is as follows:

- VND2,275 (equivalent to 9.35 U.S. cents) per kWh for rooftop solar systems having commercial operation date (COD) and confirmation of meter readings from June 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019; or

- VND2,039 (equivalent to 8.38 U.S. cents) per kWh for rooftop solar systems having COD and confirmation of meter readings from July 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020.

3. New regulations on management of construction activities

On December 30, 2024, the Government issued Decree No. 175/2024/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the Law on Construction 2014 (as amended) on management of construction activities (Decree 175/2024).

Decree 175/2024 took immediate effect on December 30, 2024 and has replaced Decree No. 15/2021/ND-CP (Repealed Decree 15/2021) and Decree No. 53/2017/ND-CP (Repealed Decree 53/2017) regulating the management of construction projects and construction permits, respectively.

Amendments to requirement for economic-technical investment reports

Compared to the Repealed Decree 15/2021, Decree 175/2024 has added more investment projects for the construction of buildings that only require for preparation of economic-technical report (“báo cáo kinh tế - kỹ thuật” in Vietnamese) which need not to formulate (feasibility study report (“báo cáo nghiên cứu khả thi” in Vietnamese). These projects now include the followings:\

- Investment projects for religious purposes;

- Investment projects for new construction, renovation, or upgrading with a total investment of no more than VND20 billion (approx. $800,000) (excluding costs for compensation, site clearance, and land use fees), except for cultural heritage construction projects;

- Investment projects for Group C for the maintenance or repair purposes;

- Projects of dredging and maintaining public maritime channels or inland waterways;

- Investment projects primarily involving the purchase of goods, provision of services, installation of equipment, or investment projects for repairs or renovations that do not affect the structural safety of the building, with construction costs (excluding equipment costs) under 10% of the total investment and not exceeding VND10 billion (approx. $400,000) (excluding national-level important projects, Group A projects, and public-private partnership projects).

It should be noted that the person having the authority to decide on the investment is entitled to decide the formulation of a feasibility study report (“báo cáo nghiên cứu khả thi” in Vietnamese) for the above-listed projects when the projects have specific technical or design requirements which necessitates basic designs. In other words, these projects are not subject to appraisal by specialized construction authorities.

Application of Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Under the Repealed Decree 15/2021, the use of BIM in construction activities was encouraged only. However, Decree 175/2024 now mandates the use of BIM for new construction projects of Level II and above within Group B projects and higher, starting from the project preparation stage. It is anticipated that the Ministry of Construction (MOC) will soon issue detailed guidance on the application of BIM in construction activities.

Clarification on energy infrastructure projects

Decree 175/2024 revises the scope of energy infrastructure project (“công trình năng lượng” in Vietnamese) in Annex I on classification and categorization of constructions attached to Decree 06/2021/ND-CP.

In particular, under Decree 175/2024, an energy infrastructure project refers to a standalone structure, a complex of structures, or a technological line within the following plants: hydroelectric plants, thermal power plants, nuclear power plants; wind power, solar power (excluding solar energy production equipment installed on building rooftops), geothermal power, tidal power, and waste-to￾energy plants (excluding solid waste treatment facilities), biomass power, biogas power and cogeneration plants; heating, steam, and compressed air supply plants; electrical transmission lines and substations; retail gas stations, oil stations, liquefied gas stations, and other fuel or energy types; battery charging stations; and electric vehicle charging stations (excluding charging equipment or posts installed in buildings or construction components for building utilities, used for transportation vehicles, or other personal use equipment).

Moreover, Decree 175/2024 is consistent with the Repealed Decree 15/2021 in assigning the specialized construction department under the MoIT the authority to appraise construction-related documents for industrial investment projects (except those managed by the MoC), including energy infrastructure project.

However, Decree 175/2024 further clarifies that this department also has the authority to approve the feasibility study report and the construction design developed after the basic design of energy infrastructure projects built offshore (at sea) in compliance with maritime law and specialized regulations, which are outside the management of provincial people’s committees.

Legitimate land documents for issuance of construction permits

As compared to the Repealed Decree 53/2017, the new Decree 175/2024 provides more specific regulations regarding documents evidencing the legitimate land use purposes and ownership of assets attached to land, which shall be used as basis for issuing the construction permit. These documents include, among others, the followings:

- Land use rights certificates, Certificates of land use rights, and ownership of assets attached to the land, Certificates of ownership of housing and land use rights for residential purposes, Certificates of ownership of housing, or Certificates of ownership of construction works, which were issued in accordance with the land law and housing law through various periods;

- Documents eligible for the issuance of land use rights certificates or certificate of ownership of houses and other assets attached to the land but not yet granted with the certificates;

- Land documents for cases where the State has allocated land, leased land, or allowed a change of land use purpose since July 1, 2004, but having not granted with land use rights certificates or certificate of ownership of houses and other assets attached to the land;

- Land use rights certificates or decisions on land allocation or leasing by the competent authorities with the primary land use purpose for cases where construction is carried out on land used for mixed purposes according to Article 218 of the Land Law 2024;

- In cases where the investor leases land or parts of a construction work from the landowner or owner of the construction for investment purposes, the applicant for the construction permit must provide, in addition to one of the documents mentioned above, a valid lease agreement for the land or the corresponding part of theconstruction; and

- Other legal documents as stipulated by the land law.

4. New Law on Geology and Minerals

On November 29, 2024, the National Assembly of Vietnam passed the Law No. 54/2024/QH15 on geology and minerals (Law on Geology and Minerals 2024). This new law will take effect and replace the old Law No. 60/2010/QH12 on minerals, as amended, (Old Law on Minerals 2010) on July 1, 2025, except for several articles which will come into force on January 15, 2025.

Set out below are key highlights of the Law on Geology and Minerals 2024.

State policies on geology and mineral

Compared to the Old Law on Minerals 2010, the Law on Geology and Minerals 2024 introduces significant State policies regarding the exploration and extraction of minerals in Vietnam, including the following key policies:

- The State shall have strategies, master plans, and planning for geology and minerals to ensure that geological and mineral resources are protected, exploited, and used in a rational, economical, and efficient manner for sustainable economic and social development. These strategies also ensure national defense and security. Additionally, the State promotes the application of circular economy models and green economy principles in mineral extraction and processing activities;

- The State shall invest in and organize the exploration of strategic and important minerals, as well as certain minerals with high economic value and significant demand. The State shall also decide not to auction the mineral extraction rights for certain areas containing strategic and important minerals or to permit the exploration and extraction of strategic and important minerals based on intergovernmental treaties;

- The State has policies for reserving, importing, and exporting minerals in each period which are in line with the goal of sustainable economic and social development and to ensure a stable supply of raw materials for domestic production; and

- Geological and mineral data must be systematically compiled, managed centrally and consistently, and utilized effectively.

Classification of minerals

For the purposes of conducting the state managing of minerals-related activities, the Law on Geology and Minerals 2024 classifies minerals into four main groups based on their usage:

- Group I include metallic minerals, energy minerals, precious and semi-precious stones, and industrial minerals;

- Group II include minerals used as materials in the construction industry for the production of cement, tiles, sanitary ceramics, construction glass, paving stones, fine art stones, industrial lime, and refractory materials;

- Group III include minerals used as common construction materials (except for those classified in Group II and Group IV), peats, mineral muds, natural mineral water, and natural hot springs; and

- Group IV include minerals that are only suitable for use as filling materials, building foundations, constructing irrigation works, and preventing natural disasters, including: clay, laterite, minerals with other names; soil mixed with rocks, sand, gravel, or pebbles; sand (excluding riverbed sand, lakebed sand, and coastal sand areas).

Geology and minerals strategies and plans

In general, the Law on Geology and Minerals 2024 requires all mineral exploration and mineral-related activities to comply with (i) the strategies on geology, minerals, and mining industry approved by the Prime Minister; and (ii) the basic geology and minerals exploration master plan and the Group I and Group II minerals master plan – both of which are national sectoral master plans and approved by the Prime Minister. That said, the exploitation of (i) minerals for salvage mining (“tận thu khoáng sản” in Vietnamese) and (ii) Group IV minerals are not required to comply with these strategies and plans.

Authority in approving, licensing mineral-related activities

Under the Law on Geology and Minerals 2024, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) shall issue the licenses for exploration and extraction of Group I and Group II minerals. Meanwhile, the provincial People’s Committee shall have the authority in issuing the followings:

- Licenses for exploration of Group III minerals; Licenses for extraction of Group III and Group IV minerals;

- Licenses for exploration of Group I and Group II minerals and Licenses for extractionof Group I and Group II minerals in areas with dispersed and small-scale minerals as defined and announced by MONRE;

- Licenses for salvage mining of Group I, Group II, and Group III minerals; and

- Licenses for mineral exploration and extraction for natural mineral water and natural hot water based on the master plan for minerals exploration, extraction, processing and utilization that approved prior to the enactment of the Law on Geology and Minerals 2024 until there is a new replacement decision.

Detailed guidance on recovery of minerals

As compared to the Old Law on Minerals 2010, the Law on Geology and Minerals 2024 outlines detailed guidance on mineral recovery (“thu hồi khoáng sản” in Vietnamese), which is defined as combined activities aimed at extracting minerals during the implementation of construction investment projects or other activities, according to plans approved or accepted by the competent authorities. The organizations and individuals may be issued with a certificate on registration of mineral recovery in the following cases as specified at law:

- Organizations which, and individuals who, are licensed to extract or salvage minerals can recover minerals within the area of the mineral extraction/salvage investment project when carrying out basic mining construction or other activities related to mining operations, but they must report to the competent authority for review and decision;

- The project owners or investors can conduct the mineral recovery in the construction area of project works approved or permitted by the competent authority, including minerals located in areas where mineral extraction activities are prohibited, temporarily prohibited, or national mineral reserves;

- The project owners or investors can conduct dredging activities concurrently with the recovery of mineral products in the waters of seaports, fishing ports, storm shelters, inland waterways, riverbeds, lakebeds, or other waterlogged areas according to theproject or plan approved by the competent authority;

- Land users conducting the land improvement or construction activities on residential or agricultural land are permitted to recover Group III and Group IV minerals from activities related to land improvement and construction on residential or agricultural land; and

- Organizations or individuals closing a mining operation are allowed to recover minerals.