“One of the biggest obstacles in attracting investment for energy transition is that Vietnam’s electricity pricing does not adequately reflect investment costs, risk levels, or expected returns - especially from strategic investors and international financial institutions,” Dr. Long noted.

A representative from Petrovietnam’s Strategy Department called the energy transition a true revolution - one requiring enormous resources and a smart roadmap that ensures both the development of clean energy and national energy security.

Although the shift opens up promising sectors - like LNG, offshore wind, nuclear power, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) - Petrovietnam faces rising challenges. Traditional reliance on crude oil and natural gas is weakening, while stranded asset risks grow. At the same time, the company must raise substantial new investment to support its transformation.

Petrovietnam highlighted the lack of comprehensive legal frameworks for these new energy sectors, making large-scale deployment difficult. Vague regulations around investment, grid connection, licensing, transfers, and financing further slow down new projects and hinder the group’s ability to diversify its energy portfolio.

Call for synchronized regulatory reform

To ensure a successful energy transition, Petrovietnam proposed developing a legal framework for emerging energy industries - including dedicated regulations for CCS, offshore wind, hydrogen, and nuclear power. It also called for fast-tracked pilot mechanisms specific to these sectors.

The group recommended designating Petrovietnam as the core entity to lead the national energy industrial hub, with aligned policies on land use, investment, credit, and energy pricing. They also called for greater decentralization of authority and proposed incentives to develop LNG infrastructure and finalize policies for gas-to-power projects.

Dr. Long added that Vietnam urgently needs a Green Finance Law to support energy transition. He proposed creating a set of investment norms tailored to new technologies to better assess credit and risk. He also emphasized the importance of a robust risk guarantee mechanism and a stronger role for public financial institutions.

A critical element is developing customized power purchase agreements (PPAs) and launching a domestic carbon market to support renewable energy investment ecosystems.

Dr. Long also stressed the need to complete the regulatory framework for direct power purchase agreements (DPPAs) between LNG power plants and large industrial consumers. This would eliminate current off-take obstacles that hinder build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects and allow businesses to verify that their products are made with clean energy - similar to certificates of origin.

Such mechanisms are especially important for large LNG projects, which require firm power purchase commitments from industrial users seeking clean, reliable electricity that meets international manufacturing standards.

Tam An