MOIT has submitted another report to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on allowing wind and solar power plants to sell electricity directly to consumers, rather than via Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), which is now the only electricity wholesale buyer and retailer.

This was the conclusion drawn from a survey on 95 projects of this kind conducted by a consultancy unit. 

The consultancy unit also sent a questionnaire to 41 clients and received replies from 24 clients that they also want DPPA, with total demand of 1,125MW. 

MOIT affirms that the current legal framework is sufficient and ready to allow electricity buyers and sellers to make direct deals, rather than buy/sell via EVN. 

Therefore, MOIT will release legal documents to guide sellers and buyers to implement DPPA in accordance with current laws.

However, problems still exist if sellers and buyers want to buy/sell electricity through the national grid. MOIT awaits instructions from the Prime Minister.

The ministry reported that referring to the current legal framework, there are two options for DPPA.

With Option 1, the DPPA mechanism would be included in the Law on Power as suggested by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). However, the deployment of DPPA mechanism will depend on the time of promulgation and enforcement validity of the amended Law on Power.

The Law on Power has been proposed for amendment, and the amended law is scheduled to be enacted in 2025 and take effect in 2026.

With Option 2, referring to the Article 70 of the Law on Power, the government will need to promulgate a decree on DPPA implementation.

If Article 70 cannot be the basis for promulgating a government decree, the government can consider reporting to the National Assembly and National Assembly’s Steering Committee and request agencies to promulgate an National Assembly or National Assembly Steering Committee resolution on assigning the government to implement the task in accordance with Clause 3 of Article 19 of the Law on the Promulgation of Legal Documents.

After considering the government’s instructions, MOIT has proposed that the government will set DPPA mechanism under the form of a government decree.

Since January 2020, MOIT has submitted many reports to the government on the DPPA promulgation. The form of document for DPPA deployment has been changed several times, from the promulgation of a circular at ministerial level to a Prime Minister’s Decision. And in the latest report, the suggested form is a government decree.

Luong Bang