Vietnam: New decree no. 58/2025/ND-CP's specific new regulations on large-scale offshore wind power projects

In summary, we outline below the significant and key provisions of Decree No. 58/2025 for offshore wind projects in Vietnam:

1. Decree No. 58/2025 provides incentives for offshore wind projects in Vietnam, with conditions including investment policy approval by competent authorities before 1 January 2031. Although the COD for the proposed 6GW under PDP8 is rescheduled to 2030–2035, in order to get those incentives, projects must begin site surveys and subsequent stages promptly to meet this investment approval deadline. Projects supplying electricity to Vietnam's national power system must additionally have a capacity within the 6,000 MW approved by the authority in the power development plan.
2. For qualified projects, the incentives may include: exemption from the sea area use levy during the basic construction period for a duration not exceeding three years from the commencement date of construction; a 50% reduction in the sea area use levy for a period of twelve years following the exemption period during the basic construction phase, along with other incentives related to land use rental.
3. Regarding the long-term contracted power output, for projects selling electricity to the national power system of Vietnam, Decree No. 58/2025 outlines that the long-term contracted power output will be at least 80% during the loan principal repayment term up to 15 years (increased from 12 years under the previous initial draft), unless otherwise agreed upon by the investor and the electricity purchaser. This provides more room and flexibility for negotiations on specific projects. However, Decree No. 58/2025 also introduces a new requirement: this incentive mechanism will not apply if the project fails to generate the committed minimum power output due to reasons attributable to the project or if the demand load or technical conditions of the power system cannot consume/off-take the entire output.
4. At the site survey stage:
   1. Decree No. 58/2025 specifies the qualification requirements for investors conducting site surveys. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MoAE), which was formed from the consolidation of the former MONRE and MARD, has been authorized by the Government to review, select, and allocate sea areas to investors for offshore wind power project surveys.
   2. Decree No. 58/2025 sets limits on sea area use to ensure efficient offshore resource utilization: (i) during site surveys, a maximum of 20 hectares per 1 MW is permitted for offshore wind power, and (ii) during project proposal and implementation, a maximum of 5 hectares per 1 MW is allowed.
5. At the investment proposal and approval stage:
   1. Decree No. 58/2025 establishes specific qualification criteria for (i) foreign investors and/or foreign-invested economic organizations, and (ii) domestic investors. Notably, foreign investors and/or foreign-invested economic organizations are required to ensure the participation of domestic enterprises, which must hold at least 5% of the charter capital or total voting shares in the economic organization executing the project. This requirement includes (i) a state-owned enterprise (“SOE”) or (ii) an enterprise in which another enterprise with 100% state-owned charter capital holds more than 50% of its charter capital.
   2. Furthermore, Decree No. 58/2025 clarifies that in instances where multiple investors form a joint venture or consortium, the experience requirement will be assessed based on the cumulative experience of all members within the joint venture or consortium. This provision is intended to leverage the diverse expertise and capabilities of various co-investors in the consortium, which is particularly advantageous given the large-scale and complex nature of offshore wind projects.
   3. For offshore wind power projects proposed by enterprises with 100% charter capital held by the State for self-implementation, as well as offshore wind power projects proposed by enterprises with 100% charter capital held by the State for their wholly-owned subsidiaries’ implementation (“SOE-led projects”), the Prime Minister may issue the investment policy decision and investor approval concurrently, thereby eliminating the need for a competitive bidding process. However, Decree No. 58/2025 includes a provision for scenarios where such an SOE-led project requires additional capital and experience from other investors. In such cases, these enterprises may form joint ventures or associations with private sector investors to implement their first offshore wind power project. Nevertheless, the proportion of shares and capital contributions of the state-owned enterprise in the economic organization implementing the project must exceed 50%.
   4. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) is responsible for organizing the bidding process to select investors for offshore wind power projects. The Ministry of National Defence (MOND), the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MOAE) are tasked with appointing representatives and coordinating in the selection of investors for these projects.
6. For electricity tariffs related to offshore wind projects selling electricity to the national electricity system, the maximum electricity price indicated in the invitation-to-bid dossier must not exceed the upper limit of the electricity generation price bracket for offshore wind power set by the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) for the bidding year. The electricity price accepted for investor selection will serve as the ceiling price for the electricity buyer during negotiations with the winning investor. Additionally, the new decree stipulates that Vietnam Electricity (EVN) is responsible for purchasing the electricity as mandated by the competent authority or the bidding agency.
7. Decree No. 58/2025 sets specific time limits for the winning investor to advance the awarded project to the next stages, particularly:
   1. Within 24 months from the date of signing the investment project contract (following the bidding stage), the selected investor must approve the feasibility study (FS) report for the power project construction.
   2. Within 30 months from the date of signing the investment project contract, the electricity buyer and the investor must negotiate and establish the power purchase agreement (PPA) price. This ensures the timely execution of the project in accordance with the power development plan and guarantees the security of electricity supply.
8. For offshore wind power projects producing electricity for export not through the national power system, Decree No. 58/2025 stipulates that such projects must be fully implemented by domestic investors (including individuals with Vietnamese nationality and economic organizations established and operating under Vietnamese law, excluding foreign-invested economic organizations) or they must participate in capital contribution with a shareholding ratio of over 50% of the charter capital in the economic organization implementing the project. Regarding the electricity export price, it must not be lower than the maximum price of the domestic electricity generation price bracket for offshore wind power type promulgated by the Minister of MOIT in the bidding year.
9. Decree No. 58/2025 takes effect from its signing date of 3 March 2025. It includes a transitional provision stating that organizations and individuals who have been assigned a sea area by a competent State authority before 3 March 2025 to conduct offshore wind power development surveys  may continue to conduct surveys according to the decision on the assignment of the sea area by the competent State authority.

For comprehensive details on offshore wind regulations as stipulated in Decree No. 58/2025, please see the following page.

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