As an effort to implement legislative tasks in Vietnam’s National Power Development Plan (PDP8) on enhancing regulations governing renewable energy, including rooftop solar power (RTS) and self-consumed solar power, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (“MOIT”) has released the draft Outline of Decree on rooftop solar power development for consulting public opinion (“Draft Decree”).

The Draft Decree aims to supplement the legal framework for the development of RTS (both grid-connected and off-grid-connected). 

Key highlights of the Draft Decree are as follows:

1. The Draft Decree permits the development of grid-connected RTS under specific conditions: (i) the total capacity shall not exceed the total capacity approved under PDP8 (i.e. 2,600 MW by 2030) and must align with the existing load conditions at the time of RTS development registration, (ii) deployment is solely for self-consumption, precluding any sales to third parties, including EVN, (in other words, no electricity business investment or trading activities are allowed); (iii) in the event of power export to the national grid, the sale price will be “zero” VND, and (iv) if no export occurs, the investor must install a zero export controller/device at its own cost. Meanwhile, off-grid-connected RTS capacity remains unrestricted, but it must strictly adhere to self-consumption mandates and remain disconnected from the national grid.

2. Under the Draft Decree, for RTS development, the developers must register with the competent local electricity agency to obtain confirmation. The timeline for licensing process is 7 days from receipt of the application dossier. Additionally, the provincial People's Committee is empowered to approve the capacity of the RTS to ensure that the total capacity of all projects does not exceed the capacity designated for each province under the Detailed Plan of PDP8. Other relevant authorities will check and confirm the RTS’s compliance with requirements of electricity, construction, environment, firefighting and prevention.

3. MOIT is seeking opinions of other relevant authorities on the following matters related to the RTS development: 

• The Draft Decree re-emphasizes the compliance of the development of RTS systems in the Red River Delta with the PDP8 and the regional developing orientation.
• The installations of RTS systems on the rooftops of individual residential houses for self-consumption solely (not selling to EVN or other off-takers) neither require the approval for investment policy, nor investment project. For the development of RTS in remaining cases (such as installment of RTS on the rooftop of a manufacturing factory, etc.), the investor must comply with the applicable laws. However, the current laws remain silent in this regard, thus, the MOIT is seeking clarification from the relevant authorities.
• Upon the installation of RTS systems, it is unnecessary to convert the land use and construction work function to energy land and energy constructions respectively. This regulation aligns with the amended Land Law 2024, which has just been approved recently by the National Assembly and is supposed to take effect as of 01 January 2025.
• The MOIT is seeking clarification from other competent authorities on whether the construction level will be based upon the type of construction work equipped with RTS systems, whether the construction investment project should be set up when repairing and renovating construction to install RTS systems, and which authorities are competent to approve construction design. 

The Draft Decree has no definition of “self-consumption” and “national grid-connected RTS”. Furthermore, the Draft has not yet resolved the conditions and procedures for the cases where the RTS’s owner is not the rooftop’s owner and there is a sale of electricity between the investor and the rooftop’s owner, but the electricity generated from the RTS’s system is solely used for self-consumption of the rooftop’s owner.

Consequently, it seems that the Draft Decree will be subject to several amendments before being officially finalized and approved.