10 January, 2018
Rooftop PV power projects having a capacity of under 1 MW are not subject to procedure to amend the Power Master Plan. The investor only needs to register the connecting terminal with a provincial power company and provide general information about expected capacity, specifications of solar panels and the power inverter.
Rooftop PV power projects having a capacity of 1 MW or over must be included in the master or provincial Power Master Plan. In addition, they must obtain the license for generating electricity.
There is a standard PPA for rooftop PV projects between the seller and EVN in Circular 16/2017/TT-BCT by the MOIT. Although the Investment Law does not prohibit investment in the form of a direct PPA, a direct off-grid PPA between the investor and the buyer other than EVN is still pending for further guidance now being worked on by the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (“ERAV”). Our contacts in the ERAV informed us that these new rules might come out in the 3rd quarter of 2018.
Rooftop PV power projects shall apply the net-metering mechanism using the two-way electric meter system. In a billing cycle, if the amount of electricity generated from rooftop PV power projects is greater than the amount consumed, the excess amount shall be transferred to the next billing cycle. At the end of the year or the termination of the PPA, any residual electricity generated by rooftop solar projects shall be sold to EVN at the place of electricity delivery (VAT exclusive) to be VND 2,086/kWh (equivalent to U.S. cent 9.35/kWh, the “FiT”).
The electricity price of the following year shall be adjusted according to the central exchange rate of VND over USD quoted by the State Bank of Vietnam on the last working day of the previous year.
The mentioned FiT only applies to part of the rooftop PV power plant having the commercial operation date before June 30, 2019 and shall apply for 20 years from the commercial operation date.
In order to meet this tight deadline we recommend to start working on establishing the Project Company now because the whole procedure might take some months.
Industrial parks and zones are good places to build solar panels because they have large rooftops and strong electrical connections already available. The Provincial Competitive Index including the Industrial Zones of Vietnam provides an excellent starting point for working on developing your rooftop projects. Please let us know if we shall send you the Provincial Competitive Index of Vietnam and the Standard PPA for solar rooftop.
For further information, please contact:
Oliver Massmann, Partner, Duane Morris
omassmann@duanemorris.com
