VIETNAM Law and Practice Contributed by: Adam Moncrieff and Thuy Huynh, Orrick
instruments. The 2024 Electricity Law is the main elec- tricity sector law, yet developers must also navigate laws relating to general investment, construction, land and water areas if relevant, environmental protection, marine and shipping if relevant, fire safety, and gen- eral corporate affairs and conduct. For large projects, procurement, bidding and public-private partnership rules may also become relevant, especially where the project is being developed through a state-led selec- tion process. This makes Vietnamese power devel- opment a sequencing exercise as much as a legal interpretation exercise. Technology-specific policy has become more impor- tant. LNG, offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, waste- to-energy and storage projects are all subject to the same broad legal regimes, but their real development paths differ materially. Offshore wind raises marine- space, survey and bankability issues. LNG-to-power raises fuel supply, fuel cost, supply pass-through, and terminal operation and interface issues. Storage rais- es revenue-model uncertainty. As a result, the overall framework may be common to all generation types, but project success still depends on how the specific technology fits within current policy priorities. The 2025 implementing decrees have given devel- opers a more updated rulebook for project develop- ment and licensing. They have also made clear that Vietnam expects projects to move from planning into construction under tighter procedural discipline. For developers, that is helpful in principle. The challenge is that more detailed rules do not automatically pro- duce faster approvals if the underlying bottlenecks are central and local authorities do not know or have the capability to implement and, importantly, make deci- sions under these rules. Issues can range from local land clearance and compensation to grid congestion or unresolved commercial allocation of risk. 3.2 Obtaining Approvals to Construct and Operate Generation Facilities The approvals pathway for a commercial generation facility usually starts with planning rather than land. If the project is not recognised in the relevant power development framework or implementation plan, it is difficult to move the rest of the process forward with confidence. Once that foundation is in place, the
developer typically moves through investor selection or project approval, investment registration, land or sea-area approvals, environmental approvals, con- struction approvals, grid connection arrangements, power sale documentation and, finally, the electricity operation licence. The order can vary in practice, but the process is cumulative and interdependent. Public participation is most visible through environ- mental and land procedures rather than through a standalone energy hearing model. Environmental impact assessment can require consultation with affected communities and local authorities, and land acquisition or site clearance often brings its own local engagement challenges. In politically sensitive pro- jects, those consultations can materially affect timing even if they do not change the project at a macro level. For coastal and offshore projects, stakeholder mapping is becoming even more important because fisheries, maritime use and national defence consid- erations can all become relevant. Which authorities will need to be involved depends on the scale and nature of the project. The MOIT remains central from a sector perspective, but the Prime Min- ister, provincial people’s committees and special- ist agencies can all play deciding roles at different stages. Developers therefore need to manage both the legal processes and institutional relationships. In Vietnam, an approval process is rarely a single-lane track through one regulator. 3.3 Approvals to Construct and Operate Generation Facilities Approvals for generation facilities usually impose conditions on timing, technology, capacity and com- pliance rather than granting an entirely open-ended development right. A project approval may tie the developer to a specified capacity, site, technology choice, development and commercial operations schedule, and reporting obligations. Environmental approvals add mitigation and monitoring duties. Con- struction approvals set technical and safety condi- tions. The generation licence then focuses on opera- tional capability, technical compliance and continuing legal obligations.
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