45% of projects in Power Plan VIII have no investment policy
In a summary report on solutions to ensure electricity supply in the period 2026-2030 and adjusting Power Plan VIII, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that Vietnam became a net energy importer from 2015, the proportion of net imports on total NLSC was 8.4% in 2015, 43.9% in 2025 (importing 53.6 million TOE) and expected 43.6% in 2030 (importing 83.3 million TOE).
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that Vietnam is facing very serious challenges of energy supply and demand imbalance, net imports are currently very large (over 40%) while Vietnam still has unexploited oil and gas and coal resources.
In addition, regarding electricity demand and load structure, the 2026-2030 period is basically consistent with the calculated average growth demand (commercial electricity from 11.9-14.3%/year, Pmax from 13.3-15.9%/year). Some areas have sudden load increases, not following the past rule in the past period such as the North Central Coast region, the Red River Delta. Therefore, it is necessary to review all load demand for data centers, AI centers, electric vehicle charging station infrastructure, cooling and heating loads,... to synchronize and unify with the development space of 34 localities after merging and orienting regional development and space organization in Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW of the Politburo.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade assesses that the implementation of projects in localities in the past period has been very slow, posing risks to electricity supply security, and many large power source projects cannot be put into operation on schedule in the period from now to 2030.
Regarding the implementation of the transmission grid, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that EVN and its units have been and are deploying and planning to complete 292 projects (including 78 500 kV projects and 214 220 kV projects) with a total implemented volume of about 16,665 km of power lines and 91,263 MVA of total transformer capacity in the 2026-2030 period. However, EVN and its member units are only capable of implementing 28.6% of the grid project volume of Power Plan VIII and about 40.2% of the grid project volume expected to be invested by the state to be completed in the 2025-2030 period, the rest is invested in the form of socialization.
Proposal for a special mechanism "temporary exemption" for coal-fired power plants in the North
Regarding mechanisms and policies, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to issue a Government Resolution on key tasks and solutions to ensure electricity supply for socio-economic development, contributing to promoting double-digit growth in the 2027-2030 period (draft Resolution attached). The Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed that the Government allow the Ministry to organize the implementation of planning adjustments in 2 steps.
Step 1, adjust and update the planning according to the provisions of Resolution No. 253/2025/QH15, which allows the addition of new coal-fired power projects to compensate for other underlying power source projects (SNG, coal) that are behind schedule, and supplement renewable energy sources that can be quickly deployed to compensate for other projects that have not been deployed, in order to meet the electricity demand for the Northern region in the 2027-2028 period and the Southern region in the 2029-2030 period.
Step 2, comprehensively adjust the Power Plan VIII according to the provisions of the Planning Law, in which projects that have been adjusted and updated with the plan Step 1 is a closely linked and inseparable part in the overall adjustment.
Agreeing with the policy of transferring Vietnam Electricity Group to the Ministry of Industry and Trade as the owner agency to have sufficient forces and resources to implement the plan after it is approved.
The Prime Minister allows the Northern coal-fired power plants to apply a special mechanism of "temporary exemption" (period until 2030) to comply with regulations on cooling water temperature in emergency operating situations of the power system, in order to allow high mobilization of coal-fired power plants when they do not meet environmental standards (cooling water temperature discharged into the environment) during peak load periods, especially in the Northern region.
Promulgate a list of urgent electricity projects assigned to 100% state-owned enterprises to implement according to the provisions of Article 14, Article 15 of the Electricity Law.
Assign ministries and sectors to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to continue to improve mechanisms and policies to attract investment in the electricity sector after the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Electricity Law is passed, including investment mechanisms in the form of public-private partnerships, electricity price management according to market mechanisms with state regulation, ensuring a harmonious combination between the political - economic - social goals of the State and the production and business goals, financial autonomy of electricity industry enterprises.
