- Executive summary
On 26 June 2026 the Government issued Decree 243/2026/NĐ-CP, a single instrument that simultaneously amends the two core renewable-energy decrees adopted in March 2025: Decree 57/2025/NĐ-CP on the direct power purchase (DPPA) mechanism between renewable generators and large electricity users, and Decree 58/2025/NĐ-CP detailing the Electricity Law on the development of renewable and new energy. The Decree takes effect immediately (no vacatio legis) and is expressly framed as implementation of Resolution 253/2025/QH15 — the National Assembly’s 2026–2030 energy-policy resolution.
The most consequential changes are:
- Rooftop solar surplus: the share of self-consumption rooftop-solar output that may be sold to the grid rises from 20% to 50%, with scope to agree more than 50% through 31 December 2030 where the local grid can absorb it, and no cap at all in off-grid mountainous, border and island areas.
- DPPA widened: industrial-park / cluster electricity retailers become eligible participants, and data centres and EV-charging stations are expressly recognised as qualifying large-user loads.
- Pricing: surplus is priced at the previous year’s average spot-market electricity price published by the market operator (on the DPPA private-line route, capped at the solar price-bracket ceiling).
- Grandfathering: existing contracts and registrations remain valid; parties may opt in to the new rules.
- Background and legal framework
Vietnam’s renewable-energy regime has been rebuilt around the Electricity Law 61/2024/QH15 (in force 1 February 2025), implemented by Decree 57/2025 (DPPA) and Decree 58/2025 (renewable/new energy). In December 2025 the National Assembly added a dedicated, time-limited policy layer — Resolution 253/2025/QH15 — setting special mechanisms for national energy development for 2026–2030. Decree 243/2026 is one of the implementing instruments of that Resolution, and is the first package to amend both 2025 decrees together.
- Rooftop solar — self-production and self-consumption surplus (amended Article 14, Decree 58/2025)
This is the headline reform. Surplus power is the output of a self-consumption rooftop-solar system, measured at the inverter output, that remains after on-site consumption. The amended Article 14 enlarges how much of that surplus may be monetised and how it is priced.
| Issue | Before (Decree 58/2025) | After (Decree 243/2026) |
| Maximum surplus sellable to grid | 20% of actual output | 50% of actual output (by radiation intensity), by agreement |
| Above 50% | Not permitted | Permitted by agreement to 31 Dec 2030 where the connection-area grid can absorb it and safe operation is maintained |
| Off-grid (mountain / border / island, not yet on national grid) | Subject to limit | No limit — the entire surplus may be sold |
| Surplus price | — | Previous year’s average spot-market price published by the market operator |
| Reverse-flow control | — | “Zero-Export” device newly defined; if output exceeds the agreed ratio, the buyer pays only for the agreed ratio |
Eligible categories able to sell surplus include household rooftop solar; grid-connected self-consumption systems (settled at retail price level); off-grid systems in mountainous, border and island areas; and grid-connected systems whose capacity sits within the approved power-development planning.
- DPPA mechanism — expanded scope (Article 1, amending Decree 57/2025)
Article 1 systematically widens the direct power purchase regime. Two themes dominate: new categories of participant, and a build-out of definitions and operational duties to support them.
4.1 New participants and qualifying loads
| Position under Decree 57/2025 | Position under Decree 243/2026 | |
| Eligible buyers through private lines | Renewable generators ↔ large electricity users | Adds industrial-park / cluster electricity retailers (“đơn vị bán lẻ điện tại các mô hình khu, cụm”) as participants |
| Qualifying large-user loads through national grid | General large users | Expressly includes data centres and EV / vehicle charging stations |
| Trading channels | Private connection line; national grid | Retained, with cluster retailers integrated into both, excluding residential zones and free trade zones via national grid. |
4.2 Surplus, metering and registration on the DPPA route
- Sale of rooftop-solar surplus to EVN over a private line is capped at 50% of output, priced at the prior-year average market price but not exceeding the ceiling of the relevant solar price bracket; sales to large users / cluster retailers over a private line are by negotiation.
- New Article 8a sets out the responsibilities of cluster electricity retailers; metering and Zero-Export device obligations are added (Article 7).
- A generator selling directly to large users over a private line does not need to register for rooftop-solar development.
- Appendices IV and V and Form 01 of Decree 57/2025 are replaced (new netting / year-difference settlement methodology); clause 3 of Article 31 is repealed.
- Other renewable/new-energy changes (Article 2, amending Decree 58/2025)
Beyond the surplus reform, Article 2 updates the surrounding machinery for renewable and new energy:
- Definitions of the surplus seller and surplus buyer (Article 3).
- Self-consumption notification and registration (Articles 12–13), including cases not requiring a business-registration certificate, and construction-safety / fire-prevention conditions.
- Capacity determination for self-consumption systems (Article 23), with metering-based formulas.
- Development-registration certificate dossier and procedure (Articles 17, 18, 24).
- Offshore wind survey provisions (Articles 26, 27, 38) — tracking Resolution 253’s offshore-wind mandate.
- Appendix III replaced; several provisions repealed (e.g. clause 2 of Article 12, clause 6 of Article 29, Article 22).
- Link to Resolution 253/2025/QH15
Resolution 253/2025/QH15 was adopted by the National Assembly on 11 December 2025, took effect on 1 March 2026 and runs to 31 December 2030. It establishes special mechanisms and policies for national energy development in 2026–2030, expressly covering power-planning adjustment, power-project investment, offshore wind, direct electricity trading, and oil, gas and coal projects. Decree 243/2026 operationalises it, and the linkage is concrete in three ways:
- Aligned sunset: the “above-50%” surplus window closes on 31 December 2030 — the same horizon as Resolution 253 — marking it as a deliberate, time-boxed lever rather than a permanent rule.
- Direct trading: the DPPA expansion to cluster retailers, data centres and EV-charging loads is the “direct electricity trading” limb of the Resolution in practice.
- Offshore wind: the amended offshore-wind survey provisions implement the Resolution’s offshore-wind mandate.
- Transitional provisions (Article 3)
- Power-purchase and surplus contracts signed before 26 June 2026 continue on their existing terms; parties may agree to renegotiate to the new rules.
- Registration certificates/notifications validly issued under Decree 135/2024, Decree 58/2025 or Decree 57/2025 before the effective date remain effective; adjustments follow the new Decree.
- Pending registration dossiers are processed under the prior decrees; offshore-wind survey applications filed earlier are handled under the prior rules.
- EVN must perform the 2026 year-difference (netting) settlement within 15 working days of the effective date.
