Written by Foreign Counsel Vaibhav Saxena, Associate Yen Linh Le, and Associate Quang Anh Nguyen
In a significant stride towards sustainable energy transformation, the Vietnamese government has approved the Revised National Power Development Plan VIII (PDP-8) under Decision No. 768/2025/QD-TTg (the “Revised plan”), outlining the country’s electricity roadmap for the 2021–2030 period with a forward-looking vision to 2050.
The Revised plan, initialed on April 15, 2025, is aligned with Vietnam’s commitments under the Law on Planning 2017, the Electricity Law 2024, and international climate goals, including pledges made at COP26 through COP29. It reflects the country’s growing ambition to transition towards clean energy while ensuring energy security and supporting rapid economic growth.
A Vision for Green Growth and Energy Sovereignty
Renewable energy will play a central role, with emphasis on wind (onshore and offshore), solar (particularly concentrated solar paired with battery storage), hydropower, and renewables-based production of hydrogen and ammonia, all with no export caps. Vietnam also seeks to leverage on international commitments such as JETP and AZEC, along with climate finance, to boost public-private and independent power projects, while strengthening the role of SOEs. Existing coal plants will proceed with plans for fuel conversion to biomass/ammonia over a 20-year timeline, and those over 40 years old may be decommissioned if conversion is unviable. Nuclear power development will be prioritized, and regional energy cooperation will be expanded, particularly through electricity imports from ASEAN and the GMS.
Ambitious Targets
Under the Revised plan, Vietnam anticipates an average annual GDP growth of 10%, driving corresponding electricity demand. Key targets for the 2030–2035 period include:
- Commercial power consumption: 500.4 – 557.8 billion kWh
- Electricity generation and import: 560.4 – 624.6 billion kWh
- Maximum capacity: 89,655 – 99,934 MW
- RE share (excluding hydropower): 28 – 36%
- Greenhouse gas emissions cap: 197 – 199 million tons approx., 170 million tons
- Rooftop solar (off grid): Adoption in 50% of office buildings and homes
- RE exports: Up to 10,000 MW to countries including Singapore, Malaysia and other regional partners
The country aims to be among the top three ASEAN nations in electricity access and among the top four in supply reliability. There are also plans for two inter-regional renewable energy industrial and service centers.
Generation Mix and Investment Outlook
By 2030, Vietnam’s total installed generation capacity, excluding exports, is projected to be in the range of 183,291 to 236,363 MW, dominated by renewable sources:
Source | Capacity Range (MW) |
Onshore and near-shore wind | 26,066 – 38,029 |
Offshore wind | 6,000 – 17,032 upto 2035 |
On-grid Solar (including concentrated and rooftop) | 46,459 – 73,416 |
Biomass | 1,523 – 2,699 |
Waste to energy | 1,441 – 2,137 |
Geothermal and other new energy | 45 (approximately) |
Hydro | 33,294 – 34,667 |
Nuclear | 4,000 – 6,400 up to 2035 |
Storage | 10,000 – 16,300 |
Coal-fired thermal | 31,055 |
Domestic gas-fired thermal | 10,861 – 14,930 |
LNG thermal | 22,524 |
Flexible power (thermal using LNG, Oil, Hydrogen) | 2,000 – 3,000 |
Pumped storage hydro | 2,400 – 6,000 |
Import | 9,360 – 12,100 |
Planned conversion of coal plants to cleaner fuels such as ammonia and biomass will span two decades. Projects failing to meet implementation benchmarks may be reallocated to renewable energy alternatives.
The anticipated investment for power generation and transmission from 2026 to 2030 stands at USD136.3 billion, withUSD 118.2 billion allocated for generation and USD18.1 billion for grid infrastructure.
Expanding Grid and Export Capabilities
The country is also set to massively expand its transmission system by adding 12,944 km of 500kV grid while upgrading 1,404 km and adding 15,307 km of 220kV while renovating 5,483 km of transmission lines. Such systems shall be coupled with new 102,900 MVA of 500kV transformer stations with upgrades set for 23,250 MVA and an added 105,565 MVA of 220kV transformer stations with upgrades set for 17,509 MVA stations.
By 2035, the nation targets the export of 5,000–10,000 MW to regional partners, particularly Singapore and Malaysia. Exports to Cambodia will also be scaled up to 400 MW. In addition, Vietnam also focuses on power grid interconnection with regional countries by continuing to study and promote cooperation in power grid interconnection with countries in the Mekong sub-region and ASEAN to strengthen system integration and leverage the resource advantages of each country; study and apply ultra-high-voltage grid interconnections with ASEAN countries to serve electricity import and export purposes.
Key Priorities Ahead
To ensure the successful implementation of its revised plan, Vietnam focuses on strengthening policy and regulatory frameworks, advancing scientific innovation and research in clean energy and nuclear, as well as investing in workforce development and training. Additionally, the country plans to allocate up to 93,360 hectares of land for energy development projects by 2030, supporting the scale and infrastructure needed for a sustainable energy transition, along with environmental protection activities, climate change adaptation and the conservation of ecosystems.