Excess rooftop solar power fed into the grid will cost 0 VND.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has recently sent out a draft proposal for a government decree regulating the development of rooftop solar power for public comment.

In this draft, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is seeking specific feedback on several issues related to rooftop solar power.

First, there is the issue of rooftop solar power being connected to the national grid for self-consumption, without selling electricity to other organizations or individuals, and without selling electricity back into the national grid.

In this case, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has developed a policy stipulating that organizations and individuals developing rooftop solar power are only allowed to use the electricity on-site and are not permitted to sell it to other organizations or individuals, including not selling it to the Vietnam Electricity Group (meaning no investment in electricity trading, and no electricity trading activities are allowed).

The draft allows organizations and individuals to choose whether or not to feed any surplus electricity (if any) from rooftop solar power into the grid. If they choose to feed the surplus electricity into the grid, the state will record the electricity at a price of 0 VND (no payment will be made; in return, the state will allow the organization or individual to connect to the national grid to ensure the stable operation of the rooftop solar power system).

"In cases where organizations or individuals choose not to feed surplus electricity into the national grid, they must invest in and install equipment to minimize the amount of surplus electricity fed into the power system," the draft states.

The rooftop solar power capacity of each organization or individual must match the existing load at the time of registration for development. The Ministry of Industry and Trade notes: The regulations in this clause apply to rooftop solar power nationwide, including rooftop solar power in Ho Chi Minh City as stipulated in Resolution No. 98/2023/QH15.

The second case mentioned by the Ministry of Industry and Trade is rooftop solar power that is not connected to the national grid for self-consumption and does not sell electricity to other organizations or individuals.

In this case, organizations and individuals developing rooftop solar power are only allowed to use the electricity on-site and are not permitted to sell it to other organizations or individuals. They must also ensure that both the power generation source and the load are not connected to the national power grid.

There is no limit to the installed capacity of rooftop solar power systems for each organization or individual at the time of registration.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade anticipates that this Decree will take effect from the date of signing and will last until December 31, 2030.