Foreign investors sign petitions over payment of renewable power projects

Foreign investors sign petitions over payment of renewable power projects

A group of 23 foreign direct investors in the renewable energy sector has recently submitted written petitions to some ministries regarding the issue of payment for 173 renewable power projects under the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) price mechanism.

Twenty-three foreign investors own or contribute capital to renewable energy projects with a total capacity of more than 4,182 MW in Việt Nam. — Photo cafef.vn

A group of 23 foreign direct investors in Việt Nam’s renewable energy sector has submitted written petitions to several ministries, calling for urgent resolution over stalled or partial payments for 173 projects operating under the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) mechanism, warning of mounting financial pressure and legal uncertainty.

News portal dantri.com.vn reported that according to the investors, Circular 10/2023, which has been effective since June 2023, stipulates that renewable energy projects must have a Completion Acceptance Certificate (CCA) before being recognised for commercial operation date (COD).

However, they said that this regulation had not existed at the time when many foreign-invested projects achieved COD. At that time, they had needed only to be confirmed by Vietnam Electricity (EVN) to be completed and operated under the FIT price mechanism. Therefore, 173 projects were determined by the authorities to not have CCA at the time of COD, causing instability and great legal risks for investors.

The investors said that many of these projects have not been paid by EVN or have only received partial payment since the January payment period. In some cases, payment has been suspended since August 2022.

According to the investors, financial difficulties are seriously affecting all affected projects and the investors themselves.

Therefore, they proposed to organise a bilateral dialogue with Ministers of Industry and Trade, Justice and Finance in the first half of November on the above issue.

According to statistics, 23 foreign investors own or contribute capital to renewable energy projects with a total capacity of more than 4,182 MW in Việt Nam. 

Bizhub