Mechanism for Calculation of Electricity Generation Price Bracket and Its Implication for Transitory Solar/Wind Energy Investors

On 3 October 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) issued Circular 15 on the mechanism for setting up an electricity generation price (EGP) bracket applicable to transitory (chuyển tiếp) solar and wind power plants (Circular 15/2022), which took effect from 25 November 2022.

Determining EGP bracket under Circular 15/2022 will cause significant impact to the selling price of the transitory solar and wind energy projects in Vietnam. To be specific:

  • Circular 15/2022 only applies to solar and wind power plant developers (Developers) who have entered into PPAs with Vietnam Electricity (EVN) before 1 January 2021 (for solar power Developers) or 1 November 2021 (for wind power Developers) but failed to meet the requirements to apply the preferential EGP administered by the Prime Minister under Decision 13/2020 (for solar powers) and Decision 39/2018 (for wind powers) (Transitory Projects);

  • Circular 15/2022 requires the Developers of the Transitory Projects to provide Feasibility Study Reports or Engineering Designs of their power projects to EVN.

  • Based on data submitted by the relevant power plants, EVN will calculate and build up an EGP bracket of a standard solar and wind power plant (Maximum EGP Bracket), and obtain an approval from the MOIT for such Maximum EGP Bracket. The approved Maximum EGP bracket will be published on the website of the MOIT and the Electricity Regulatory Authority. The mechanism for calculation of the Maximum EGP Bracket is illustrated in the diagrams at the end of this post. Details on this mechanism are discussed in this document.

  • The price for selling generated power by the Developers of Transitory Projects to EVN cannot exceed the approved Maximum EGP Bracket. Accordingly, the data provided by the Developers may affect their profit in the future.

On 7 January 2023, the MOIT already issued Decision 21 which approves the Maximum EGP Bracket calculated in accordance with the mechanism specified in Circular 15/2022 (see the bar chart below) which will serve as a basis for EVN to agree on the selling price with the Developers of Transitory Projects:

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Written by Lawyers VNLaw On In

The case for a new law for offshore wind development in Vietnam

To realize the potential of offshore wind development in Vietnam, the National Assembly of Vietnam will likely need to issue a new law which provides for a more comprehensive and consistent legal framework supporting an offshore wind project. This is because (1) the existing legal framework is not adequate for an offshore wind development, and (2) the issues under the existing legal framework need to be addressed by the National Assembly being the highest law-making authority in Vietnam. In particular,

· The existing legal framework does not confer any property right relating the sea area required for an offshore wind development. Decree 11/2021 deals with the allocation of sea areas to investors to implement offshore investment projects including offshore wind development. However, under Decree 11/2021, the investor is not allowed to transfer the allocated sea area, and does not have exclusive right to use the sea area. In other words, the Government may allocate the same sea area to other investors to develop other projects as long as such projects do not “conflict” with the offshore wind projects. The allocation of sea area is made via an administrative decision which could technically be revoked by the Government.

· Investors will likely be extremely reluctant to invest significant sum of money in a sea area which they cannot transfer, mortgage, or prevent others from using. To address this issue, the National Assembly will need to issue a law establishing property right over sea area granted to investors in an offshore wind development. The new law could follow the provisions of Land Law which confer “land use right” to investors of onshore investment projects. Under the Land Law, investors of onshore investor projects could lease land from the relevant provincial People’s Committee. The investors will then have land use right over the relevant land area which, in many cases, can be transferred or mortgaged.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In

Are offshore wind turbines movable or immovable property under Vietnamese law?

1) Introduction

The wind turbines of an offshore wind power project (Offshore WPP) consist of two main types: fixed-bottom and floating. Both types are attached to the seabed either by a foundation or by mooring, respectively (see the image 1 below).. It is not entirely clear if the wind turbines of an Offshore WPP should be considered as an immovable property or movable property under Vietnamese law. This is because it is not clear if the seabed, to which an offshore wind turbine attached, can be considered as “land” under Vietnamese law.

The classification of whether an offshore wind turbine is movable or immovable property could have significant legal impact on an Offshore WPP. For example,

  • immovable property attached to land can only be mortgaged to licensed credit institutions in Vietnam (not to foreign lenders); and

  • certain contracts relating to immovable property attached to land (e.g., title transfer contracts, lease contracts, or mortgage contracts) must be governed by Vietnamese law being the law of the country where the immovable property is located.

In this post, we will discuss in detail as to whether an offshore wind turbine is movable or immovable property. This post is written by Tran Duc Long, Le Thanh Nhat, and Nguyen Quang Vu.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In

New Amendments To Investment Law, Enterprise Law, Electricity Law, Residential Housing Law and Other Laws

On 11 January 2022, the National Assembly passed a new law amending 09 laws, including Public Investment Law, Public-Private Partnership Law, Investment Law, Residential Housing Law, Tendering Law, Electricity Law, Enterprise Law, Law On Special Consumption Tax, and Law On Civil Judgment Enforcement (Law 03/2022). Law 03/2022 will come into effect on 1 March 2022. In this post, we will discuss some new key points of Law 03/2022.

1) Enterprise Law 2020

Change of the term “members of the Members’ Council” into “members of the company”

As discussed before, the Enterprise Law 2020 (Articles 49 and 50) only provides for the rights of members of the Members’ Council, but not the rights of the members of the LLC. And many rights of the members of the Members’ Council should be the rights of the members of the LLC such as rights to subscribe for new capital increase or to receive dividends paid by the LLC. The change of the term “members of the Members’ Council” into “members of the company” in Articles 49 and 50 has successfully resolved this problem, although in other provisions, the Enterprise Law 2020 still does not distinguish between the positions of members of the LLC and members of the Members’ Council of the LLC.

Removal of requirement on signatures of dissenting members on meeting minutes; personal liability of the chairperson and the person writing the minutes

The requirement that meeting minutes of the Members’ Council must include signatures of members who disagree to pass such meeting minutes is now removed.

In addition, in the event that the chairperson of the meeting of the Members’ Council/Board Of Directors or the person writing the minutes refuses to sign the meeting minutes, for such minutes to be effective, the Enterprise Law 2020 no longer requires all attending members of the meetings to sign, and only the signatures of the attending members who agree to pass the minutes are necessary. Also, in such event, the chairperson or the person writing the minutes who refuses to sign such minutes must bear personal liability for any loss arising to the company due to their refusal.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In , , , ,