World - Bank - Solar - Competitive - Bidding - Strategy - (PWC+BM) - Final Version

Vietnam Solar Competitive Bidding
Strategy
PricewaterhouseCoopers and Baker McKenzie

for the World Bank and the Ministry of Industry and Trade
June 2019
June 2019 Vietnam Solar Competitive Bidding Strategy
Table of Content
Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 3
1. Background .......................................................................................................................................... 15
2. Key Challenges in Solar Deployment in Vietnam .............................................................................. 16
3. Solar Competitive Bidding Schemes ................................................................................................... 18
4. Selected Competitive Bidding: Mechanisms in the Context of Vietnam ..........................................20
4.1 Substation-linked competitive bidding ..............................................................................................20
4.2 Public Solar Park Bidding .................................................................................................................... 26
4.3 Private Solar Park Bidding .................................................................................................................. 31
5. Solar Competitive Program Recommendations ................................................................................. 36
6. Key Next Steps ..................................................................................................................................... 38
Annexes ..........................................................................................................................................................40
A. Note on Vietnam Power Sector Reform Program .......................................................................... 40
B. Bidding for approved projects missing FIT timeline ...................................................................... 45
C. Decentralized substation linked bidding ......................................................................................... 47
D. Criteria for selection of a Solar Park site .........................................................................................49
E. An outline of the potential sites identified for Solar Parks............................................................. 55
F. Transmission substation list ............................................................................................................ 63
1
Abbreviations
COD Commercial Operation Date

CPC Central Power Committee
DOC Department of Construction
DOIT Department of Industry and Trade
DONRE Department of Natural Resource and Environment
DPI Departments of Planning and Investment
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
EPC Engineering, Procurement and Construction
EVN Vietnam Electricity
FIT Feed in Tariff
GHI Global Horizontal Irradiance
GTI Global Tilted Irradiance
IPP Solar Independent Power Producer or Bidder
MOIT Ministry of Industry and Trade
MONRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
MPI Ministry of Planning and Investment
NPT National Power Transmission Corporation
PPC Provincial People’s Committee
PDP Power Development Plan
PLF Plant Load Factor
PPA Power Purchase Agreement
PPP Public Private Partnership
RfP Request for Proposal
SOE State Owned Enterprise
SS Substation
USD US Dollar
VRE Variable Renewable Energy
2
Executive Summary
Background
Solar power generation is an increasingly attractive option for Vietnam thanks to recent cost reductions,
fast construction timelines, and the contribution solar power can make to ensuring energy security and
environmental sustainability.
In March 2016, Vietnam’s Prime Minister approved, in Decision 428/QD-TTg, the Ministry of Industry and
Trade (MOIT)’s proposed revisions to the National Power Development Plan VII (Revised PDP 7) for the
period 2016–2020 with a vision to 2030. Under the plan, the total installed capacity is expected to be 60
GW in 2020, 96 GW in 2025, and 130 GW in 2030.
The Revised PDP 7 places greater emphasis on renewable energy development and outlines an ambitious
strategy for generation development, in which renewable energy is to be prioritized. The plan sets a target
of 6.5 percent of generation from renewable sources (excluding large-scale hydropower) by 2020 and 10.7
percent by 2030. It also stipulates a target of 850 MW of installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity by 2020,
4 GW by 2025, and 12 GW by 2030.
To achieve these ambitious deployment targets, the Government of Vietnam will have to promote solar and
wind power through a clear and sustainable strategy while also ensuring that their deployment does not
impede economic development by imposing additional costs. To support the development of solar PV, the
government, in April 2017, issued Decision 11/2017/QD-TTg, which established a feed-in-tariff (FIT) policy
that is set to expire in June 2019. The policy laid out how independent power producers (IPPs) could apply
for the FIT and set a tariff of VND 2,086/kWh (fixed at US$0.0935/kWh) for 20-years power purchase
agreements (PPAs). A draft extension of the FIT was released in January 2019 with different PPA prices set
per location in the country with a commercial operation date (COD) deadline set for mid-2021.
Competitive Bidding Schemes Identified for Vietnam
To replace the FIT, the Government of Vietnam is preparing the country’s first solar competitive bidding
program with the intention of scaling-up the deployment of solar at competitive electricity purchase tariffs
as part of a new Competitive Bidding Program.
After a thorough review of the different competitive schemes used internationally and the key challenges
Vietnam is facing, two deployment schemes, namely (i) substation-linked competitive bidding and (ii) solar
park competitive bidding (proposed in two different structure: public solar park and private solar park), are
recommended.
Both schemes seek to address one of the key constraints being faced in Vietnam - constrained grid
availability and mismatches in generation planning and land Master Plan leading to potential delays. Both
schemes identified also aims to reduce the development risks perceived by IPPs, thus reducing the risk
premium expectations in the equity returns and cost of debt of the project therefore potentially leading to
reduced solar power tariff being offered by developers.
The mechanisms of the two schemes, encompassing the key technical, financial and institutional
structuring parameters, are presented below:
Substation-linked Competitive Bidding

The Government of Vietnam would identify substations with
available interconnection capacity across provinces and open for
Description bidding for bidders who offer their eligible projects for
interconnecting to each specified substation totaling upto the
specified MW capacity at that substation.
3

The bidding scheme shall help optimise the use of existing
transmission capacity in the deployment of solar projects reducing
the potential cost of integrating variable generation.
- Auctioneer: MOIT with evaluation support from respective PPC
and EVN to select the projects
- PPA signatory: EVN
Role & Institutional - Selection of substation and their capacity: EVN/NPT with
Structuring the support of PPC researches and proposes a list of substations
and their capacity to the MOIT. MOIT approves the list of
substations as part of the solar competitive bidding program.
- Investment in power plant and transmission line from
the plant to the grid: IPP
The selection of the substations to be offered for bidding is multi-

criteria:
(i) Technical availability at the given substation for
connecting solar generation,
(ii) Capacity limits for integration of VRE in that part of the
Technical Aspects grid,
(iii) Land availability (Typically within ~20 kms) around the
substation,
(iv) Cost of land in the nearby districts of the substation and
(v) Solar irradiation levels around the substation.
The land is identified by the IPP around the substations provided as

part of the bidding scheme. As part of eligibility for the competitive
bidding scheme, the IPP should have obtained the preliminary
acceptance letter of provincial PPC for the proposed project site.
The RfPs may require IPPs to demonstrate on their proposed land use
Land Selection
demand, specifically: proposed project location; current status of
land use; explanation on satisfaction of conditions for land lease,
allocation, conversion of land use purpose; estimated timeline to
obtain land approvals; and if available, the general land clearance and
compensation plan.
a. Option 1: Substation-linked competitive bidding
conducted separately from investment approval
procedures.
- Prior to the bidding process:

The IPP will have to obtain preliminary acceptance letter of
Permitting Process provincial PPC for project site study; prepare the pre-feasibility
(02 Options) study (Pre-FS) for the project; prepare bidding dossiers (which
will include the proposed power sale/purchase price and
proposed scale, implementation schedule and key technical
parameters of the project).
- Just after selection of the IPP(s):
IPPs whose projects are selected from the competitive bidding
process will carry out procedures under existing regulations to
4

obtain licenses and approvals for their projects, including the
following:
 Approval for inclusion into the PDP;
 Investment Policy Decision;

 In relation to electricity sale and purchase: IPPs obtain EVN's
in-principle acceptance to purchase power; and sign the
auxiliary technical agreements (including the Grid
Connection Agreement) and the Power Purchase Agreement
(PPA) with EVN and/or its relevant entities.
 In relation to the project's land: PPC approves inclusion of
the project's land into the relevant local land use plan. PPC
issues decision on permitting the selected project to
lease/allocate with land or conversion of land use purpose;
then notifies on the recovery of land for the project and
conduct land clearance and compensation procedures. The
selected project will then be issued with the land use right
certificate (LURC).
 In relation to construction and design: IPPs prepare

feasibility study (FS), including basic design, of the selected
project and obtain appraisal results from DOC or the MOIT.
PPC/DOIT issues right of way approvals for the project's
interconnection facilities. PPC or DOC issues construction
permit(s) to the project.
 Other licenses and approvals: PPC or DONRE issues EIA

approval; local police department issues fire prevention and
fighting design approvals to the selected project.
For projects having obtained certain licenses/permits before
their participation in the competitive bidding process, IPPs carry
out procedures under existing regulations to amend the relevant
licenses/permits to reflect any changes in interconnection point
or other technical parameters.
- After selection and prior to COD of the project (s):
IPPs apply for the Electricity Operation License, with facilitation
by MOIT/ EVN on a best efforts basis.
b. Option 2: Substation-linked competitive bidding

conducted as part of the investment approval
procedures under the Investment Law.

The IPP will have to obtain preliminary acceptance letter of
provincial PPC for project site study; prepare the pre-feasibility
study (Pre-FS) for the project; prepare other documents required
under the law to apply for (i) the inclusion of the project to the
PDP and (ii) the issuance of the Investment Policy Decision.
5

- Just after selection of the IPP (s):
 The projects that are selected from the competitive bidding

process will be granted (i) approval for inclusion into the PDP
and (ii) Investment Policy Decision as per the Investment
Law (if they don’t already have it) or will be allowed to amend
the relevant permits and licenses they already have to reflect
any changes in interconnection point or other technical
parameters.
 Subsequent permitting process is similar to Option 1.
All the investments required are done by the private sector except in
Financing the event where some upgrades are needed or planned at the
substation.
a. Option 1: MOIT's Circular on competitive bidding
procedures for solar projects
Under this option, bidding process is conducted separately from
investment approval procedures under the Investment Law. Key
contents of the Circular may include:
- Procedures to approve the investor selection plan (i.e., list of
substations and capacity available for competitive bidding);
- Procedures to prepare and issue RfPs; templates of the RfPs;
- IPPs selection criteria;
- Cooperation mechanisms between the MOIT and relevant
state authorities (e.g., PPC, EVN and relevant Ministries) in
the evaluation process.
The Prime Minister should issue a Decision to instruct the MOIT
to issue such guiding Circular as the legal basis for the MOIT to
do so.
b. Option 2: Prime Minister's Decision or Government's
Legal Framework Decree guiding the Investment Law, Electricity Law
(02 Options) and Law on Planning on competitive bidding
procedures for solar projects
Under this option, the competitive bidding process is proposed
to be incorporated into PDP inclusion procedures and
investment approval procedures. The Prime Minister's Decision
(or Government's Decree) needs to stipulate on (i) key contents
similar to Option 1 above and (ii) the following additional
contents:
- IPPs submit application dossiers for (i) PDP inclusion and (ii)
Investment Policy Decision together with their bidding
dossiers;
- PPCs (as the investment approval authority) receive IPPs'
bidding dossiers, coordinate with relevant authorities to
assess the bidding dossiers;
- As the results of the competitive bidding process, selected
projects are granted approval for PDP inclusion and
Investment Policy Decision.
6

 The substation-linked competitive bidding is the bidding process
Timeline & Feasibility that requires the least changes from the government and may be
launched in the shortest timeline.
Public Solar Park Competitive Bidding

The Government of Vietnam (in particular, the PPC) will identify the
site(s), obtain approval of the MOIT for inclusion of the Public Solar
Park including its capacity and interconnection plan in PDP, conduct
land clearance and construct basic infrastructures for the Solar Park.
Once the project reaches “ready for competitive bidding status”, a
Description
competitive bidding procedure begins and the winning IPPs will sign
the PPA with EVN. IPP will be responsible for arranging the
financing, construction and operation of the solar project and
Government of Vietnam will be responsible for construction of
required infrastructure for the Solar Park.
- Auctioneer: PPC with the evaluation support of MOIT and
EVN
- Selection of substation and their capacity: PPC (with the
support of EVN/NPT) proposes the substation and capacity for
Solar Park and obtain MOIT's approval for the same under the
PDP
- Selection of land: PPC with support of EVN and MOIT
- Land clearing: PPC
- Obtain Approvals for development of Solar Park: PPC
- Transmission infrastructure for connectivity till grid
substation: NPT/EVN or IPP if Solar Park is for selection of a
single project or IPP
Role & Institutional
Structuring - Recovery of state investment in Solar Park:
 PPC recovers state investment by (i) charging selected IPPs
a yearly Solar Park Fee or (ii) receiving a monetary sum by
means of leasing the right to exploit/make profit on Solar
Park to a third party under a lease agreement. Procedures
for PPC to determine specific recovery fees/methods will be
subject to the Law on Management and Use of Public
Property.
 EVN recovers its investment in transmission infrastructure
from Solar Park to grid substation through annual
transmission charges. Legal basis for EVN's recovery of its
investment can be (i) existing laws and EVN's regulations on
electricity transmission/distribution fees or (ii) the Law on
Management and Use of Public Property.
 Such transmission charges and Solar Park fees shall be
approved and made available as part of the bidding process.
7

After the recommendations of EVN/NPT on available 110 kV or 220
kV substations and approval from MOIT, land suitable for
development of solar projects greater than 100 MW near the
Land substation is secured by the PPC.
The land is “cleared”, and all people are compensated and resettled
by PPC and the land is converted to the correct purpose.
 PPC identifies the Solar Park sites, and then obtains
approval for disbursement of state investment capital for
Solar Park development in accordance with the Law on
Public Investment.
 MOIT issues approval for inclusion of the Solar Park

(together with its substation/ interconnection plan) into the
PDP.
 PPC conducts land clearance procedures and obtain

necessary approvals to construct basic infrastructures in the
Solar Park (e.g., access roads, water discharge system).
 EVN/NPT obtains necessary approvals for disbursement of
state investment capital to construct Transmission lines and
pooling substation for solar park.
- Just after selection of winning bidder:
After being selected from competitive bidding, IPPs will proceed
with the following permitting process:
 IPPs obtain Investment Registration Certificate (or receive

Permitting Process the Investment Registration Certificate as the results of their
winning of the bids without the need to carry out separate
application process, if the bidding procedure is incorporated
into the investment approval procedures).
 IPPs enter into an agreement with the PPC or (in case the
PPC lease the right to exploit Solar Park to a third party) a
third-party manager of Solar Park on the use of Solar Park
locations and payment of Solar Park fees. Implementation
agreement with EVN/NPT if evacuation infrastructure is
developed by EVN/NPT.
 In relation to electricity sale and purchase: IPPs obtain
EVN's in-principle acceptance to purchase power; sign the
PPC or DOC issues construction permit(s) to the project.
approval to the project (if required); local police department
8

issues fire prevention and fighting design approvals to the
selected project.
- After selection and prior to COD:
- Clearing of land, right of way, development of Solar
Park infrastructures, grid connection facilities:
Government of Vietnam (with the PPC being the project owner
Financing of the Solar Park development project).
- Power plant: IPPs. If there is only one single project in Solar
Park then the grid connection facilities can also be financed by
IPP.
- To select the IPPs, similar to substation-linked competitive
bidding, the Government may consider two (2) options:
 MOIT's Circular on competitive bidding procedures for solar

projects; and
 Prime Minister's Decision or Government's Decree guiding

the Investment Law, Electricity Law and Law on Planning on
competitive bidding procedures for solar projects.
The key difference from substation-linked bidding is that for
Legal Framework Public Solar Park competitive bidding, IPPs will not be required
to obtain/apply for (i) PDP inclusion approval and (ii) land-
related approvals, since the PPCs will obtain these approvals for
the Public Solar Park in advance.
- The PPP legal framework is another option for selection of IPPs.
Public Solar Park under the PPP legal framework require least
amendment/supplementation to existing regulations because
the PPP legal framework for power projects (including Circular
No. 38/2015/TT-BCT of the MOIT guiding on PPP investment
for power projects) has been available to certain extents.
 The public solar park competitive bidding is the bidding process

that requires the most preparatory work from the government
but also has the potential of the lowest PPA prices.
 The key constraint is to find the right avenue to finance the
government’s work and ensure there is enough capacity built at
the Province level to develop the solar park.
Timeline & Feasibility  If the PPP legal framework is chosen for public solar park
competitive bidding, various authorizations and approvals
required under PPP legal framework can slow down the bidding
process. Therefore, the other two (2) options for legal
framework (namely: the MOIT's Circular on competitive
bidding process; or legal document guiding the Investment
Law, Electricity Law and Law on Planning on competitive
bidding process) are recommended.
9
Private Solar Park Competitive Bidding

The Government of Vietnam will identify the substation(s) and
conduct bidding process in two phases:
(i) Phase 1: Selection of a Land Partner through competitive
bidding process. Once a Land Partner and its proposed Solar
Park site is selected, MOIT approves the Solar Park for
registering it into PDP. The Land Partner conducts land
Description clearance and construct basic infrastructures for the Solar
Park.
(ii) Phase 2: once the project reaches “ready for competitive
bidding status”, a competitive bidding procedure is
undertaken and the winning IPP(s) will sign a PPA with
EVN. The IPPs will be responsible for arranging the
financing, construction and operation of the solar project.
- Auctioneer (for both phases): PPC with the support of

MOIT and EVN
- Selection of substation and their capacity: PPC (with the
support of EVN) proposes the substation and capacity for Solar
Park and obtain MOIT's approval for the same under the PDP
- Selection of land: Private Land Partner
Role & Institutional - Land clearing: Private Land Partner (with the support of PPC)
Structuring
- Obtain Approvals for development of Solar Park: Private
Land Partner
- Transmission infrastructure for connectivity till grid
substation: Private Land Partner
- Solar Park Fee: the Land Partner would recover its investment
through a yearly Solar Park Fee from IPP. The Solar park fees
shall be as per the approved fees discovered competitively from
phase 1 of the bidding process.
After the recommendations of EVN/NPT on available 110 kV or 220

kV substations and approval from MOIT, the potential Land
Partner(s) proposes their Solar Park location and capacity
(minimum of 100 MW is recommended) during Phase 1 competitive
bidding process.
Land After being selected as the Land Partner in Phase 1, PPC approves
inclusion of the Solar Park's land into the relevant local land use
plan. PPC issues decision on permitting the private Land Partner to
lease/allocate with land or conversion of land use purpose, then PPC
notifies on the recovery of land for the project and conduct land
clearance and compensation procedures.
- Prior to bidding process:
Permitting Process EVN/NPT with the support of PPC researches and proposes a
110 kV or 220 kV substation for solar park and the capacity
available in the province to the MOIT. MOIT approves the
10

private solar park as part of the solar competitive bidding
program
- Phase 1 - Just after selection of Land Partner:

 After being issued with the Investment Policy Decision (or
investor selection results, if there are several Land Partners
interested in the same location), the Land Partner
collaborates with PPC for land procedures (as mentioned
above) and obtain necessary approvals to construct basic
infrastructures in the Solar Park (e.g., access roads,
transmission lines, substation, water discharge system).
 MOIT approves the Solar Park registration into the PDP.

- Phase 2 - Just after selection of IPP:
After being selected from competitive bidding, IPPs will proceed
with the following permitting process:
 IPPs obtain Investment Registration Certificate (or receive

the Investment Registration Certificate as the results of their
winning of the bids without the need to carry out seprate
application process, if the bidding procedure is incorporated
into the investment approval procedures).
 IPPs sign the Solar Park Agreement with the Land Partner.
 In relation to electricity sale and purchase: IPPs obtain

EVN's in-principle acceptance to purchase power; sign the

PPC or DOC issues construction permit(s) to the project.
approval to the project (if required); local police department
issues fire prevention and fighting design approvals to the
selected project.
- After selection of IPP and prior to COD:
- Clearing of land, right of way, development of Solar
Park infrastructures, grid connection facilities: Land
Financing Partner
- Power plant: IPPs
- Phase 1: PPC can conduct a competitive bidding procedure in
Legal Framework accordance with either
11

 Investment Law with additional guidelines from the
Government on the criteria for selection of Land Partner; or
 The selection process of investors for projects using land
under the Bidding Law and Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP.
- Phase 2: To select the IPPs, similar to substation-linked
competitive bidding, the Government may consider two (2)
options:
 MOIT's Circular on competitive bidding procedures for solar
projects; and
 Prime Minister's Decision or Government's Decree guiding
the Investment Law, Electricity Law and Law on Planning on
competitive bidding procedures for solar projects.
The key difference from substation-linked bidding is that for
Private Solar Park competitive bidding, IPPs will not be required
to obtain/apply for (i) PDP inclusion approval and (ii) land-
related approvals, since the Land Partners will obtain these
approvals for the Private Solar Park in advance.
 The industrial solar park competitive bidding reduces the
amount of financing required from the government but
increases the amount of work required by the Government on
the bidding side as two bidding processes would be required (if
there are several investors proposing for the same Solar Park
location). The two bidding processes also increase the time
required to bring the projects to COD.
 The key constraint is to find the right way to ensure that the PPA
Timeline & Feasibility
price is not affected since the Land Partner may charge higher
solar park fees if competition on land is relatively low in the
province.
 In the event where the Government of Vietnam can arrange the
required financing or budget for at least clearing the land for a
Public Solar Park, it is recommended to undertake competitive
bidding in Solar Park Scheme through public solar park
competitive bidding only.
Key Recommendations
The recommendations for the Solar Competitive Bidding Program are:
a. Plan a medium-term strategy which has clear procurement processes and timeline for
MW being procured under a stated scheme. The opportunity to develop large, utility-scale solar
projects attracts experienced developers and large investors, which confers significant benefits to the
sector. These companies are able to draw upon international economies of scale in procurement, use
modern technology, are able to get lower cost financing and bring robust competition. A defined
roadmap for capacity to be auctioned over a medium-term help take up the preparatory actions
necessary for project development. This would include identifying the potential sites to set up future
projects, creating site infrastructure (e.g., access roads, utilities, solar parks), strengthen the
12
transmission system at a local and national level. The project ecosystem (e.g., suppliers, fabricators,
service providers) may also acquire infrastructure and equipment in advance to meet the demand.
b. The bidding could be initiated with pilot bidding under substation bidding first followed
by public solar park scheme. The pilot auctions will help in establishing the process, addressing
any regulatory impediments, and building institutional capacity at the central and province level.
c. The public solar park scheme is preferred and therefore budget constraints for land
clearing needs to be addressed. The private solar park scheme not being optimal; the public solar
park scheme is recommended. However, the PPC and EVN may have issues with finding the budget for
solar park development like clear the land and develop the evacuation infrastructure. Therefore, this
issue needs to be addressed by Government of Vietnam.
d. Legal framework changes. Following these pilot auctions, suitable policies may be adopted for
scaling-up development of solar projects through auctions. The Government may need to issue
additional legal guidance to accommodate the competitive bidding program.
Key Steps to Design and Operationalize the Competitive Bidding Program in Vietnam
In order to undertake solar competitive bidding in Vietnam, MOIT will need to formulate a long-term plan,
design a Competitive Bidding Program and facilitate its operationalization. More precisely:
a. Revise the legal framework. The Government may need to revise the law and/or issue a legal
document guiding the existing law, under which the competitive bidding will be implemented. MOIT
and MPI will preside over the drafting process, collect opinions from relevant stakeholders and submit
the draft to Government for adoption/issuance prior to launching the competitive bidding program.
b. Prime Minister Decision on the pilot competitive bidding program. Prior to the adoption of
all revisions to the legal framework (if required) and/or issuance of the legal document guiding on
competitive bidding process, the pilot competitive bidding program could be implemented under a
Decision of the Prime Minister.
c. Competitive Bidding Program design. MOIT will have to prepare a medium-term Competitive
Bidding Program and obtain approval identifying clearly the deployment schemes selected, targets and
timeline, the key roles of each stakeholder and the selection framework:
- Deployment scheme type. MOIT will need to validate which competitive bidding scheme(s) will
be implemented in Vietnam
- Targets and timeline. MOIT will need to validate the targets and timeline of each scheme.
Following the Revised PDP 7 solar PV targets, the Competitive Bidding Program will have to clearly
state for each type of solar competitive bidding scheme how many MW are expected to be procured.
As proposed in this report, 3.5 GW of solar PV deployed under a substation-linked competitive
bidding and 1.75 GW under a public solar park competitive bidding could be procured by 2024.
- Stakeholder role. MOIT will need to validate the role of each stakeholder under the selected
competitive bidding scheme(s). If the proposed recommendation in this report is validated, under
the identified law, the Government or the Prime Minister shall assign MOIT as the authority to
approve bidders’ selection plan and be the auctioning agency to prepare the RfPs. MOIT shall also
be empowered to constitute an evaluation committee with respective PPC, EVN and other relevant
ministries to preside over the evaluation process and approve the bidders’ selection results.
- Bidding framework. MOIT and MPI will preside over drafting process of the guideline
framework for bidding process and contractual terms and submit the draft legal document to the
Government or the Prime Minister for adoption/issuance. It is key to provide uniformity to
different rounds of auction process that would need to be followed by the auctioning agency.
13
d. Select the Substations and Provinces for Pilot Schemes. MOIT will have to select a list of
provinces in which the first round of competitive bidding will be conducted, based on substation
availability, higher irradiation, land availability, inputs from PPC, and the target capacity for the pilot
competitive bidding:
- Consultations with PPC. MOIT will have to consult the respective PPCs for availability of land
and undertake sufficient institutional capacity building in the Provinces for solar park bidding.
Such capacity building is necessary for them to identify the right land parcels, address any
infrastructure requirements and extend state support for solar park development to the extent
allowed under law.
- VRE integration. EVN/NPT will have to undertake system studies in the selected Provinces for
integration of a solar capacity more than 50 MW at each substation (100 MW in case of Solar Park
Scheme). List of such available substations and the evacuation capacity will become the starting
point for undertaking the pilot competitive bidding.
- Final Selection for substation-linked competitive bidding. MOIT will have to finalize with
the Provinces and EVN/NPT the list of 110 kV and 220 kV substations with their possible maximum
MW amount of solar PV.
- Final Selection for solar park locations. MOIT will have to finalize with the Provinces and
finalize location for solar parks that would be developed for the first solar park competitive bidding.
e. Transaction advisory support. MOIT/EVN may have to hire a transaction advisor to support them
in the drafting of the bidding documents and the IPP selection process.
14
1. Background
The Government of Vietnam has set a goal to install 12 GW of solar power capacity by 2030 (Revised PDP
7). MOIT and the PM have approved and added to the PDP solar projects totaling 7.2 GW (as per September
2018) and over 17 GW of prospective applications are pending approval. The Government of Vietnam is
considering a higher target for solar power capacity in its PDP 8 given the latest PPA prices in solar PV and
in light of the strong market interest.
MOIT set a FIT of US cents 9.35 per kWh for grid connected projects and identified EVN as the PPA
signatory (circular issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade - Decision 11)2 with a COD deadline set for
mid-2019. A draft extension of the FIT was released in January 2019 with different PPA prices set per
location in the country with a COD deadline set for mid-2021. The new FIT would enable the projects that
were approved by MOIT, included in the PDP and did not meet the mid-2019 deadline to meet this new
deadline.
Post-FIT, the Government of Vietnam is planning to endorse a new Solar Competitive Bidding Program
with the intention of scaling-up the deployment of solar at competitive electricity purchase tariffs. The
competitive bidding process shall follow international standards adapted to Vietnamese regulations and
past experiences to ensure a sustained deployment of solar PV.
The present report outlines key recommendations with regards to which solar PV deployment scheme is
the most suitable with regards to the Vietnam context and the current challenges in terms of regulations
and practices.
Section 2 analyses the key challenges that are hindering solar PV deployment. Section 3 presents the type
of solar competitive bidding schemes that have been implemented. Section 4 recommends which scheme
of competitive bidding could be implemented in Vietnam based on its key challenges and presents in detail
the mechanisms of such identified bidding scheme. Section 5 presents the outline of a potential Solar
Competitive Bidding Program (the Program) looking at timeline, targets and the piloting of the competitive
bidding schemes. Section 6 outlines the key next steps to finalize the Solar Competitive Bidding Program
and steps to operationalize it.
2 The eligible solar projects must achieve commercial operations by June 30, 2019.
15
2. Key Challenges in Solar Deployment in Vietnam
Even if over 7 GW of solar projects are included in the PDP, only 500 MW to 1 GW are expected to meet the
mid-2019 deadline. Indeed, conversion into operational projects has been relatively low due to evacuation
constraints, land availability issues and difficulty to access project financing. These are:
a. Generation, transmission and land planning complexities. There is no clear link between the
PDP and the Solar Master Plan. Overall PDP viz., from all sources must be aligned with the approved
projects under the Solar Master Plan which is a difficult exercise. Plus, the existing differences between
the Land Use plan, Solar Master Plan and the Power System Plan result in planning constraints leading
to issues/delays in project development.
b. Lack of centralized planning creates evacuation constraints. Where the solar projects are
located is decided by the IPP and is currently not centrally planned. Therefore, EVN evaluates one
project after the other without being able to assess them as a whole as it does not know which ones will
reach COD. This challenge may lead to shortfall in transmission capacity planned by EVN against the
capacity of proposals received for setting up solar power projects is an issue. The graphic below
illustrates the magnitude of the challenge and the need to reconsider how solar PV location is decided
against the transmission capacity plans.
Province approved solar capacity and

transmission plan as per the 2020 Power System Plan
4500
Provinces with Provinces with large
4000 large approved substations capacity
solar capacity Power system planned for being built to meet
3500 load growth is inadequate for load growth
solar capacity addition
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
Solar Capacity approved (MWp) Evacuation capacity (MVA) in new build substation
Generation capacity planned from other sources (in MW)
c. Land availability challenges. Vietnam being a fertile and dense country, there are competing
usages in land that impacts solar PV deployment. More centralized and organized land planning for
solar PV would reduce its impact on the other usages.
16
d. Numerous actors with different responsibilities that are interlinked. When developing solar
projects in Vietnam, IPPs are facing numerous actors at the national level (MOIT, MPI, MONRE and
EVN) and at the province level (DPI, DOIT, DONRE). For a smooth planning, it is key for the
stakeholders to have clear responsibilities and role while working in complete synergies.
e. Lack of clear and agreed upon parameters to evaluate the quality of the projects. There
are no agreed upon parameters to evaluate the quality of the IPP solar proposals and therefore, as the
proposals received exceed the target capacity set in the Revised PDP 7 it is complex to select the ones
that should be approved.
f. Lack of available non-recourse project financing in Vietnam Dong. The current PPA terms
reduces the possibility of IPPs to access USD project financing. Local banks are comfortable with the
PPA and EVN’s risks and are willing to finance the solar PV projects. However, no local bank would
finance solar PV projects under a non-recourse project-financing scheme and provide longer tenors,
which in turn is limiting the appetitive of IPPs as well as the number of IPPs that can develop projects
without a strong balance sheet or group support.
17
3. Solar Competitive Bidding Schemes
Solar competitive bidding schemes are broadly grouped under two categories, Standard Competitive
Bidding and Solar Park Competitive Bidding, that each have nuances in its implementation leading to
different deployment schemes with distinct features:
a. Standard Competitive Bidding under which the project’s land selection and construction of the
power plant and transmission line is the responsibility of the IPP. Depending on the type of standard
competitive bidding selected, the government/utility may direct the location of the project site by
nominating substations or calculating premiums and penalties per feeder to incentivize IPPs to locate
their projects in areas where it is the most needed. Three key schemes under Standard Competitive
Bidding are presented below:
Location Agnostic Competitive Bidding

The Government/Utility auctions for a predetermined capacity/energy, with no constraints on location,
allowing the developer to select freely the project location.
Developers can select sites according to their own criteria, enabling them to target sites that are
cheaper and easier to develop or offer better resources.
Developers may gravitate to the same region causing grid congestion and land scarcity. Connecting
such independently selected sites may result in a transmission network that is not least-cost.
The first solar competitive bidding schemes were all “location agnostic” such as in South Africa and Chile.
Most countries are now moving away from such competitive bidding scheme as they are experiencing
important grid constraints. FITs are usually also location agnostic and face the same constraints with
regards to grid integration.
Decentralized Competitive Bidding

The local government auctions for solar capacity in identified provinces or areas in promoting smaller
capacity grid-connected solar projects.
It helps spread distributed solar power development, utilizes local assets better, and integrates the
smaller capacity projects more easily with the grid.
The smaller project size makes it harder to achieve economies of scale. In addition, tariffs could
differ (potentially, significantly) even within a province based on the local conditions.
Germany promoted such scheme setting capacity limit at 10 MW that were easy to integrate into the grid.
However, Germany is moving away from such scheme by developing a premium and penalty scheme to
attract projects in specific locations.

The government identifies substations with available MW capacity and open for bidding a certain MW
capacity at each substation.
It helps optimise the use of existing transmission capacity in the deployment of solar projects
reducing the potential cost to integrate variable generation. It can proactively drive grid
investments.
If the number of selected substations is too small, there may be important competition for land
around the substation that would drive the PPA price up.
18
Mexico developed such scheme which has been very successful in supporting a more controlled
deployment of solar PV in the country. Germany’s premium and penalty scheme is a variation of this
scheme.
b. Solar Park Competitive Bidding: The Government selects the location of the project site, and the
government or its nominated agency may take up construction of key infrastructure, such as
transmission line and fencing. The government then grants or auctions to the private sector the right
to build and operate the project at that given site. A variation of that scheme is as per an industrial park
concept to use the private sector to select the site and build the key infrastructure prior to auctioning it
to IPPs.

The government identifies the site(s), obtains approval for PDP inclusion, conducts land clearance and
construct basic infrastructures for the solar park. Once the project reaches “ready for competitive bidding
status”, a competitive bidding procedure begins and the winning IPP is responsible for arranging the
financing, construction and operation of the solar project.
The solar park significantly lowers development risks in particular in acquiring land and consents
and shortens development timeline for the private sector, which results in costs savings and thus
lower PPA tariffs.
The implementing agency will need time and upfront budget to develop the solar park facility before
conducting an auction.
India championed the public solar park scheme leading to very low PPA prices. The World Bank Group
developed the Scaling Solar concept which is also reducing to the maximum the upfront development
risks. It was very successful in Zambia and Senegal.

The government identifies the substation(s) and conducts two stages:
(i) Phase 1: a Land Partner obtains approvals to develop solar park. The Government conducts
competitive bidding procedures to select Land Partner and selected Land Partner conducts land
clearance and constructs basic infrastructures for the Solar Park.
(ii) Phase 2: once the project reaches “ready for competitive bidding status”, a competitive bidding
procedure is undertaken and the winning IPP is responsible for arranging the financing,
construction and operation of the solar project.
The Private solar park significantly lowers development risks in particular in acquiring land and
consents and shortens development timeline for the private sector, which results in costs savings
and thus lower PPA tariffs. It also enables the government to not have to provide upfront budget
The scheme is complex with two auctions to be conducted. Plus, the PPA price may be negatively
impacted by the fees charged for reimbursement of the Land Partner investment.
India has developed few Private Solar Parks under such concept; however, it has not been very successful
in selecting the private developers competitively. Higher solar park fees have also been observed in these
solar parks over Public Solar Park leading to higher cost for solar project developers.
19
4. Selected Competitive Bidding: Mechanisms in the

Context of Vietnam
The selection of the right competitive bidding scheme for a given country is made based on the local legal
and technical considerations, the potential to deliver policy objectives and current constraints faced in
deployment. As per the constraints presented in Section 3 and a thorough legal review, substation-linked
competitive bidding and public solar park competitive bidding were identified as the preferred
deployment schemes that would fit the best in the context of Vietnam. Considering the requirement of
financing by Government in public solar park scheme and current budget constraints at province levels, the
private solar park variance could be explored selectively in provinces where there is potential of higher
competition/participation for Land Partners.
4.1 Substation-linked competitive bidding

Description of the bidding model
The Government of Vietnam through its nominated agency would identify substations across provinces
with available interconnection capacity limits for solar generation and open for bidding a certain MW
capacity at each substation. The substation-linked model is recommended in the context of Vietnam as it
helps optimise the use of existing transmission capacity in the deployment of solar projects reducing the
potential cost to integrate variable generation.
Key steps for bidding scheme
The substation linked bidding model’s key steps are:
a. EVN and NPT to identify potential substations. EVN and NPT identify a set of substations with
available capacity more than the quantity required for bidding. They are expected to consider multiple
relevant factors in deciding which substations could be integrating VRE, such as plans for other
generation projects, transmission expansion, new demand centers or system considerations such as to
locate generation at the tail-end etc.
b. EVN and MOIT to select the substations to be proposed for bidding. The final selection of the
substations is done in a multi-criteria manner looking at:
i. Technical availability at the given substation (which was evaluated in step a.),
ii. Capacity limits for integration of VRE in that part of the grid,
iii. Land availability (Typically within ~20 kms) around the substation,
iv. Cost of land in the nearby districts of the substation and
v. Solar irradiation levels around the substation.
c. MOIT to announce launch of competitive bidding with substation list. Once the bidding
framework is finalized (bidding process, contractual risk allocation, template dossiers of invitation for
qualification, template RfPs, etc.), MOIT launches the Solar Competitive Bidding round by announcing
the available substation and their associated MW capacity and setting out the eligibility/ qualification
criteria for bidders to qualify for the RfP stage. These eligibility/ qualification criteria would be linked
to the financial capacity of the IPP, its technical experience and a given level of development for the site
proposed by the IPP around the substation. Projects that already have inter-connection rights to the
same sub-station can also bid to compete with new projects seeking interconnection with the specified
sub-station (subject to amendments to the existing permits, licenses and agreements to reflect the
20
changes to such Projects as the result of the bidding process, including the changes to the
interconnection point or other technical parameters).
d. IPP to identify land around selected substation. The land is identified by the IPP around one of
the identified substations. To be pre-selected as part of the competitive bidding scheme, the IPP needs
to have identified pieces of land.
e. IPPs to submit their qualification package. The IPP presents (i) its financial strength and
capacity to raise debt, (ii) experience in solar PV construction and operation, (iii) identified land details.
The precise qualification documentation and eligibility/ qualifications to meet are to be finalized by the
government’s transaction advisor. Such prequalification stage can be clubbed into a single stage RfP
process in subsequent bidding rounds as market maturity is observed.
f. MOIT along with PPCs and EVN to select shortlisted IPPs and share the RfP package.
Based on the pre-qualification parameters, IPPs are shortlisted and the finalized RfP package is shared
with them.
g. IPPs to submit their technical and financial proposals. As part of the proposals, IPPs need to
(i) propose the power sale/purchase price and (ii) demonstrate on their land use demand including,
among other contents: proposed project location; current status of land use; explanation on satisfaction
of conditions for land lease, allocation, conversion of land use purpose; estimated timeline to obtain
land approvals; and (if available) the general land clearance and compensation plan.
h. Bidding winner announced, contract signature and permits granted. Selected IPPs carry out
procedures to obtain approval for PDP inclusion and Investment Policy Decision (or receive these
approvals as the results of their winning of the bids without the need to carry out seprate application
process, if the bidding procedure is incorporated into the PDP inclusion and investment approval
procedures). PPC approves inclusion of the selected project into the local land use plan, issues decision
to lease/allocate with land or conversion of land use purpose and conduct land clearance/compensation
procedures. IPPs will sign auxiliary technical agreements (including the Grid Connection Agreement)
and PPA with EVN or its relevant entities; obtain other permits and licenses (e.g., EIA approval,
construction permit) for the project.
Technical Aspects
The planning agency would set the capacity range or limits for a given voltage level. It could standardize the
capacity to be tendered in a given lot to simplify the bid process and minimize the number of considerations.
The typical capacity range and voltage level considering multi-circuit lines/bays are as follows:
Voltage level Capacity range

110 kV 50 MW - 100 MW
220 kV Up to 250 MW
To ensure economies of scale and a better integration in the system, the substation-linked bidding leads to
lower prices if the substations selected are Transmission level voltages.
The process of the selection of the substation is presented in the diagram below.
Province filter
Identification of high potential provinces with

Annual GTI > 1700 kWh/m2 and availability of land
for solar projects
21
Transmission substation filter
Identification of 110 kV and 220 kV substations –

existing and planned till 2020 in these provinces
Existing generation filter
Identify existing and planned generation source in

such provinces – Conventional (Hydro, Coal, Gas,
Diesel) and Renewable sources
System study No Undertake system studies to

available for identify transfer limits
identified substation available for solar generation
Yes
Available capacity & Bidding Scheme
Based on the system studies identify available

capacity at each substation.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
The roles of the principal agencies are as follows:
Role Institution Specific Actions

Government  MOIT and MPI presides over drafting process of
(with the support revised regulations (if required) and/or legal
Regulatory changes
of MOIT / MPI) guidance and submits the same to the Government for
adoption/issuance.
MOIT (with the  MOIT approves bidder selection plan (i.e. announcing
support of PPC the selected provinces, available substation and their
Bidding Process and EVN) associated MW capacity for bidding); and presides
over the evaluation process with the supports of PPCs,
EVN and relevant state authorities.
MOIT and  Technical studies that help bidders assess available
Substation EVN/NPT with capacity, risk of curtailment, load flow, etc.
selection support from PPC  Coordinated with PPCs for identifying potential land
availability nearby the substations for solar projects
MOIT / MOIT 1. Undertake bidding process within defined bidding
nominated agency framework as approved under the regulatory changes
2. Considering the legal issues and conflict in terms of
upcoming VWEM market where EVN could be one of
Auctioneer
the participants as IPP as well, EVN is not
recommended as the auctioneer.
- The charter of organization and operation of EVN
(promulgated under Decree No. 26/2018/ND-CP
22
of the Government) does not specify that EVN has

the authority to conduct bidding to select power
supplier in a solar auction program.
- The Wholesale Electricity Market (VWEM) will be
fully operational by 2021 when large eligible
customers will be able contract directly from
generators and EVN loses is status as the ‘single
buyer’. In this case, it might be no longer
appropriate to assign EVN and its relevant
entities to organize bids to select solar power
suppliers.
MOIT (with the  MOIT approves the competitive bidding results (with
Tariff approval support of ERAV opinions/inputs from ERAV and EVN in relation to
and EVN) the proposed tariffs)
Signing of PPA EVN  Procurement of power under the PPA
MOIT EVN and PPC EVN and NPT MOIT
Define principles Assess available Determine bid size

and set overall Identify 110/220kV for the first round of
substation capacity
criteria to select substations in the bidding
for solar projects and
provinces, total provinces and the
undertake system
auction capacity available capacity
studies if needed
MOIT (with support of MOIT (with support of MOIT

PPC, EVN and PPC, EVN and relevant
relevant authorities) authorities) Capacity size of Individual bid
packages should enable higher
Select projects until the Conduct bidding to locate competition and reduce concentration
targeted bid capacity is projects of projects in single district/province.
met. Send letter of award Thus to achieve such objectives the
to bidders that have met capacity of bid should be less than the
all selection criteria total available capacity at the
substations and such substations
should be identified across different
locations. For example, for a bid
package of 500 MW, a total of 2500
MVA of available capacity at 10
different substations is identified.
Legal considerations
The procedure for substation linked bidding is not specifically provided under Vietnamese laws. Therefore,
to accommodate the bidding process, the Government may need to revise existing regulations or issue
additional legal guidance. The following options for can be considered from legal perspectives.
- MOIT's Circular on competitive bidding procedures for solar projects:

 Under this option, the competitive bidding procedures are conducted separately from the PDP
inclusion procedures and investment approval procedures. After being selected from competitive
23
bidding process, IPPs are responsible for obtaining approval for PDP inclusion, Investment Policy
Decision and other licenses/approvals for their projects.
 Key contents of the Circular may include: (i) Procedures to approve the investor selection plan (i.e.,
list of substations and capacity available for competitive bidding); (ii) Procedures to prepare and
issue RfPs; templates of the RfPs; (iii) IPPs selection criteria; and (iv) Mechanisms for the
collaboration between the MOIT and relevant state authorities (e.g., PPC, EVN and relevant
Ministries) in the evaluation process.
 To provide legal basis for issuance of the MOIT's Circular, the Prime Minister should issue a
Decision to assign the MOIT to issue legal guidance on competitive bidding procedures for solar
power projects;
 The Circular should include a mechanism to secure permits and licenses to be obtained by selected
IPPs after the competitive bidding process.
- Prime Minister's Decision or Government's Decree guiding the Investment Law,

Electricity Law and Law on Planning on competitive bidding procedures for solar
projects:
 Under this option, the competitive bidding procedures are incorporated into the PDP inclusion
procedures and investment approval procedures. This means that as the results of the competitive
bidding process, selected projects are granted approval for PDP inclusion and Investment Policy
Decision.
 The Investment Law provides procedures for the assessment and approval of investor-proposed
projects. However, a bidding procedure (i.e. bidding among several projects proposed by several
investors) is not yet available under the Investment Law. This will require the Government to issue
a legal document to guide/detail the Investment Law to guide on the competitive bidding process.
For the drafting of this legal document, the following issues may need to be taken into account:
o The legal document will address mechanisms for PPCs to work with other state authorities
during the investment approval process under the Investment Law, therefore, only a Prime
Minister's Decision or a Government's Decree (rather than a MOIT's Circular) can
accommodate such regulations.
o Key contents of the legal document should include contents similar to the MOIT's Circular
option (mentioned above), and the following additional contents:
 IPPs submit application dossiers for (i) PDP inclusion and (ii) Investment Policy Decision
together with their bidding dossiers;
 PPCs (as the investment approval authority) receive IPPs' bidding dossiers;
 As the results of the competitive bidding process, selected projects are granted with
approval for PDP inclusion and Investment Policy Decision.
o Drafting authority needs to ensure that the competitive bidding procedures under the legal
document are consistent with existing Vietnamese regulations on (i) procedures for PDP
inclusion of solar projects and (ii) investment approval procedures under the Investment Law.
o This option is more suitable for competitive bidding among newly-proposed projects that have
not been issued with approval for PDP inclusion, Investment Policy Decision, and have similar
project development status.
- Bidding legal framework for selection of contractor to provide goods and services
(Bidding Law and Decree No. 63/2014/ND-CP):
24
 It is proposed that under this option, the bidding process is separated from the development right
(i.e. after the competitive bidding process, selected IPPs are responsible for obtaining the
remaining licenses and approvals for their projects). Therefore, this option would be more
preferred for solar projects that have already been issued with relevant investment and
development permits and licenses.
 The bidding regulations provide for specific bidding procedures (among others, selection criteria,
templates RfPs) for goods procurement or services bidding packages. However, selection of
electricity suppliers may not be considered under procurement of goods, services or any other
activities that are subject to the Bidding regulations. 3 This may require the Government to amend
the bidding regulations (Bidding Law, Decree No. 63/2014/ND-CP and guiding Circulars) to
accommodate the solar competitive bidding program.
- Bidding legal framework for selection of investors for projects using land (Bidding Law,
Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP and Circular No. 16/2016/TT-BKHDT): This legal framework was
designed taking account mainly projects using lands with high-commercial value, whereas solar power
projects are normally developed in unpopulated areas. This causes several gaps when applying the
existing bidding mechanism to this option, thus will require the Government to amend existing
regulations (Bidding Law, Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP and Circular No. 16/2016/TT-BKHDT) to
handle the gaps.
Based on the changes required to current legal framework, the first two (2) options (namely: (i) MOIT's
Circular on competitive bidding procedures; or (ii) Prime Minister's Decision (or Government's Decree)
guiding the Investment Law, Electricity Law and Law on Planning on competitive bidding procedures) are
recommended, as these options may only require Government to issue a legal guidance, rather than revising
the existing regulation.
Under these recommended options, the Government will need to issue guidance on, among other issues,
mechanisms for cooperation among the MOIT, EVN and the local authorities (PCs and DPIs) in evaluating
and selecting projects and the criteria to be used for the evaluation process. Reference can be made to
certain existing local regulations on criteria for selection of solar power developers of certain provinces
(such as Ninh Thuan and Thua Thien Hue). The guidance should ensure the transparency and
confidentiality of the selection process.
Key success factors and timeline
The substation-linked competitive bidding is the scheme which requires the least investment and
involvement of the government and therefore can be launched the fastest. The following factors are key for
a successful substation-linked bidding for solar projects.
3The Bidding Law currently requires the following purchases to apply its bidding procedures, and electricity is included
in none of these:
a) procurement financed by the state aiming to maintain regular activities of state bodies, political organizations,
socio-political organizations, socio-political-occupational organizations, social organizations, socio-
occupational organizations and units of the People’s armed forces, and public non-business units;
b) Procurement financed by state aiming to supply products and services in serve of public purpose;
c) Purchase of national reserve goods financed by state; and
d) Purchase of drugs, medical supplies financed state; medical insurance fund, revenues from services of medical
examination and treatment and other lawful revenues of public medical establishments.
25
a. Appropriate selection of Provinces and substations. The selection of the right provinces and
substations is important and, ideally, must offer scope for a wide range of development options. The
selected provinces for bidding should have high generation potential. There are sizeable variations even
within a country in terms of solar irradiation, cloud-free days, terrain of land, etc., which translate into
different production costs and can impact the tariffs offered in the bids.
b. Higher substation capacity availability proposed per round than MW auctioned. The total
capacity available at substation in a given round (i.e., the sum of available transmission capacity from
all selected substations proposed for bidding) should be significantly large - in relation to the size of the
tender capacity. The rationale for this is to give bidders a wider range of options, considering the
tendering agency is not providing any site studies (e.g., for resource assessment, land availability, etc.)
and bidders will have to undertake them in a limited time-frame, and avoid crowding in fewer sites that
can push up costs.
c. Competitive bidding across Provinces. A competitive bid that packages capacity across provinces
(i.e., substations identified for tender in a single bid are spread across provinces) giving bidders more
flexibility to innovate and minimize inflation of land prices, and these benefits can be captured in lower
tariffs in the outcomes of the bidding.
d. Clear medium-term strategy to deploy solar under the substation-linked bidding. MOIT
will need to announce as part of its Solar Competitive Bidding Program medium-term deployment
levels. Such as the below proposed 3.5 GW until 2024.
Indicative medium-term roadmap for

3500 MW substation linked bidding
1000 1000
500 500 500
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Substation bidding
4.2 Public Solar Park Bidding

The Government of Vietnam (in particular, the PPC) will identify the site(s), obtain approval of the MOIT
for inclusion of the Public Solar Park including its capacity and interconnection plan in PDP, conduct land
clearance and invest in key infrastructure if agreed upon (fencing, water access etc.). EVN/NPT undertakes
development on evacuation infrastructure from Solar Park site until grid substation. Once the project
reaches “ready for competitive bidding status” i.e. all required consent and approvals are obtained, a
competitive bidding procedure begins and the winning IPPs will be responsible for arranging the financing,
construction and operation of the solar project.
26
This model, with a robust transaction structure discussed in auction framework report, can attract larger
companies and international capital. Global investors, who are generally wary of the local regulatory and
development risks, are more likely to participate with this scheme. The solar park significantly lowers
development risks in particular in acquiring land and consents and shortens development timeline for the
private sector, which results in costs savings and thus lower PPA tariffs.
The main constraint in implementing this scheme is limited institutional capacity of governments and lack
of budget provision for undertaking such infrastructure work. The investment in the park infrastructure
can be limited to clearing of land and fencing if budget constraints arises.
Contractual arrangement between the Government of Vietnam (i.e. the solar park agency) and the IPP
(typically in the form of a Solar Park Agreement) would be required to establish contractual rights and
duties between both parties for the tenure of the PPA.
The PPC recovers the cost of development, investment and maintenance of common infrastructure and land
through (i) a yearly solar park fee paid by the IPP for the tenure of the PPA or (ii) receiving a monetary sum
by means of leasing the right to exploit/make profit on Solar Park to a third party under a lease agreement.
EVN recovers the investment in transmission infrastructure through appropriate regulated transmission
charges. The solar park fees and transmission charges have to be determined and fixed before the bidding
process and will be clearly stated as part of the bid documents.
High level risk allocation
Under a solar park scheme, the risks in developing a solar project are shared between the government and
the project developer.
Risks Government IPP
Grid Curtailment 
(through take or pay agreement
but ensuring the risk is minimized
by selecting the substation)
Land availability (site and

right of way)
Safeguards risks4 
Financing risk 
Construction risk 
Operation risk 
Key steps
The key steps for the public solar park scheme are:
4 Environmental risks shared to the extent of scope undertaken by each stakeholder
27
available capacity for a quantity suitable for bidding with a similar process than for the substation-
linked bidding.
b. PPC with the support of MOIT and EVN to identify land around selected substation and
prepare the solar park. The PPC identifies a land suitable for development of solar project (typically
at minimum contiguous size of ~200 ha). Once the land is selected, the PPC obtains approval for
disbursement of state investment capital for Solar Park development in accordance with the Law on
Public Investment. MOIT issues approval for inclusion of the Solar Park (together with its substation/
interconnection plan) into the PDP. The PPC then obtains necessary approvals to develop Solar Park
infrastructures (fencing, water access etc.). EVN/NPT obtains necessary approvals to construct
Transmission lines and pooling substation for solar park.
c. PPC determines measure to recover state investment in Solar Park. PPC as the entity being
assigned to manage solar park as a public property, decides on the measure to recover state investment
in Solar Park. Such fees could be recovered by means of (i) charging selected IPPs a yearly solar park
fee or (ii) receiving a monetary sum by means of leasing the right to exploit/make profit on solar park
to a third party under a lease agreement. The Law on Management and Use of Public Property will
govern these procedures. EVN recovers the investment in transmission infrastructure through
appropriate regulated transmission charges.
d. MOIT to announce launch of competitive bidding with solar park. Once the bidding
framework is finalized (bidding process, contractual risk allocation, template dossiers of invitation for
qualification, template RfP etc.), the MOIT launches the Solar Competitive Bidding Program by
announcing the location of the solar park and its key parameters. PPCs initiate pre-qualification round
by issuing the dossiers of invitation for qualification, setting out the criteria to be met to be eligible for
RfP stage. These qualification criteria would be linked to the financial capacity of the IPP and its
technical experience.
e. IPPs to submit their qualification package. The IPP presents (i) its financial strength and
capacity to raise debt, and (ii) experience in solar PV construction and operation. The precise
qualification documentation and eligibility/ qualifications to meet are to be finalized by the
government’s transaction advisor. Such prequalification stage can be clubbed into a single stage RfP
process in subsequent bidding rounds as market maturity is observed.
f. PPC to select shortlisted IPPs and issue the RfP Package. Based on the pre-qualification
parameters, IPPs are shortlisted and the finalized RfP package is shared with them. The RfP package
may encompass
i. the solar park feasibility study,
ii. grid integration analysis,
iii. the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of solar park and geotechnical analysis of the Solar
Park,
iv. land ownership details,
v. solar park implementation agreement,
vi. template PPA and government support letter and
vii. if required, guarantee and financing term sheets from potential lenders including international
financing institutions.
g. IPPs to submit their technical and financial proposals. The IPPs will need to attach to its
technical and financial proposal, the official proposal to obtain the Investment Registration Certificate.
28
h. Bidding winner announced, contract signature and permits granted. Selected IPPs obtain
the Investment Registration Certificate (or receive the Investment Registration Certificate as the results
of their winning of the bids without the need to carry out seprate application process, if the bidding
procedure is incorporated into the investment approval procedures). IPPs enter into a solar park
agreement with the PPC (or a third party solar park manager to whom PPC leased the right to exploit
solar park) for Land and Implementation agreement with EVN for transmission infrastructure. The IPP
enters into auxiliary technical agreements (including the Grid Connection Agreement) and PPA with
EVN or its relevant entities; obtains other permits and licenses (e.g., EIA approval, construction permit,
if required) for the project.
Key roles and responsibilities
Role Institution Specific Actions
 MOIT and MPI preside over drafting process

Government (with the of revised regulations (if required) and/or
Regulatory changes support of MOIT /
legal guidance and submits the same to the
MPI)
Government for adoption/issuance.
 MOIT approves bidder selection plan (i.e.

announcing the location of the solar park and
its key parameters).
 PPCs will issue the dossiers of invitation for
qualification; the RfP based on templates
Bidding Package
PPCs (with the support provided by laws, and preside over the
Preparation and
of MOIT and EVN) selection process of projects, in collaboration
Auctioneer
with the MOIT and other relevant authorities.
Such arrangement should be set out under the
legal document to be issued by the
Government or the MOIT for the competitive
bidding program.
Selection of
EVN and NPT  Assess the capacity of each substation
substation
 Identify the list of solar parks in the province

PPC (with the support
Identification of land and prioritize its development based on the
of MOIT and EVN)
identified substations
 Suitability of the identified land for

development of a solar park, based on the
Secure the land and PPC or PPC nominated existing Land Use Plan and the
develop solar park agency environmental norms applicable for solar
projects
 Conduct all analysis required
 If solar park scheme including infrastructure

Development of investments by the public party, PPC
Common PPC undertakes the development of the common
Infrastructure infrastructure (fencing, transmission line,
water access etc.)
29
MOIT (with the  Adoption of competitive bidding results

Approval of Tariff support of ERAV and
EVN)
Legal consideration
Legally four (4) options are available: (i) Public Private Partnership (PPP); (ii) MOIT's new Circular on
competitive bidding procedures for solar projects; (iii) Prime Minister's Decision or Government's Decree
guiding the Investment Law, Electricity Law and Law on Planning on competitive bidding procedures for
solar projects; or (iv) Bidding regulations for selection of contractors to provide goods and services (Bidding
Law and Decree No. 63/2014/ND-CP).
- The PPP legal framework is an option for selection of IPPs. Public Solar Park under the PPP legal
framework requires least amendment/supplementation to existing regulations because the PPP
legal framework for power projects (including Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BCT of the MOIT guiding
on PPP investment for power projects) has been available to certain extents. However, various
authorizations and approvals required under PPP legal framework can slow down the bidding
process.
- Legal considerations for the remaining three (3) options are similar to substation-linked
competitive bidding as outlined earlier. More amendments and/or supplementations to the
existing regulations will be required in these options (in comparison with the PPP legal framework).
Applying the MOIT's new Circular on competitive bidding procedures; or Prime Minister's Decision
or Government's Decree guiding the Investment Law, Electricity Law and Law on Planning on
competitive bidding procedures for solar projects is more preferred in comparison with the Bidding
regulations, as they only require the Government/the MOIT to set out additional guidance on the
bidder selection procedures and criteria for the solar competitive bidding program (rather than
changing the existing regulations).
Either the PPP legal framework, the MOIT's new Circular on competitive bidding procedures, or the Prime
Minister's Decision or Government's Decree guiding the Investment Law, Electricity Law and Law on
Planning on competitive bidding procedures for solar projects are recommended for public solar park
competitive bidding. The latter two options can avoid the downside PPP legal framework in term of timing
for project development, although these options will require an additional guidance from the Government
on the bidder selection procedures and criteria before they can be implemented.
Key success factors and timeline
The following factors are key for a successful public solar park bidding.
a. Appropriate land selection. The identification of feasible land parcels, from a technical and
commercial perspective, is critical for developing a Solar Park. The sites being assessed must have high
solar resource potential (solar irradiation, altitude, climate and ambient temperature), level terrain,
shadow-free area, road access, and transmission capacity (available and planned) among other things.
If one or more of these are suboptimal, it will adversely reflect in the level of competition and on the
discovered tariffs.
b. Clear investment and role allocation. It is key to decide upfront who is the solar park agency for
investment and legal perspective. Plus, the government needs to decide if there is enough public
30
investment availability to develop the solar park infrastructure or if the public will only do the land and
right of way clearing and conduct the key analysis.
c. Sufficient Provincial capacity. An active participation of, and sufficient institutional capacity in,
the Provinces is necessary for them to identify the right land parcels, address any infrastructure
requirements and extend state support to extent allowed under law. The solar parks help develop local
infrastructure and talent which boosts local economy and builds experience that have a growing &
positive effect for future solar bids.
d. Clear medium-term strategy to deploy solar under the solar park bidding. MOIT will need
to announce as part of its Solar Competitive Bidding Program medium-term deployment levels for
provinces to align their budgets as per required deployment of public solar park. Such as the below
proposed 1.75 GW until 2024.
Indicative medium-term roadmap for

1750 MW solar park competitive bidding
500 500 500

250
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Solar Park bidding
4.3 Private Solar Park Bidding

The Government of Vietnam will identify the substation(s) and conduct bidding process in two phases:
a. Phase 1: Selection of a Land Partner through competitive bidding process. Once a Land Partner and
its proposed Solar Park site is selected, MOIT approves the Solar Park for registering it into PDP. The
Land Partner conducts land clearance and construct basic infrastructures for the Solar Park.
b. Phase 2: Once the project reaches “ready for competitive bidding status” i.e. Land Partner acquires
land and secures all required approvals, a competitive bidding procedure begins and the winning IPP
will be responsible for arranging the financing, construction and operation of the solar project.
High level risk allocation
The regulatory and project development risks in developing a solar project are shared between the
government, private land partner and the project developer.
Risks Government Land Partner IPP
Grid Curtailment 
(through take or pay
agreement but ensuring
31
the risk is minimized by

selecting the substation)
Land availability (site

and right of way)
Safeguards risks5 
Financing,
construction and

operation risk of solar
park infrastructure
Financing,
construction and

operation risk of solar
power plant
Key steps
available capacity for a quantity suitable for bidding with a similar process than for the substation-
linked bidding.
b. Phase 1 – selection of Land Partner:
- Land Partner to identify land around selected substation. Based on the selected
substation in the province, land partner secures land suitable for solar project development nearby
by the selected substation.
- PPC to announce launch of Phase 1 competitive bidding with substation list. The PPC
launches RfP for selection of Land Partner at the identified available substation with the criteria
to be met for selection. These selection criteria would be linked to the financial capacity of the
Land Partner, its technical experience and a given level of development for the site proposed by
the Land Partner around the substation. The potential Land Partners are selected based on the
Solar irradiation levels of the proposed location or site and the yearly solar park fee they would
charge from the winning IPP for their services, i.e. clearing of land and right of way, investment
for the solar park infrastructure in fencing, water access, and transmission line.
- Land Partner selected and land approvals provided for the solar park. The selected
Land partner as part of the Phase 1 bidding process is issued with the Investment Policy Decision,
PPC approves inclusion of the solar park's land into the relevant local land use plan. PPC issues
decision on permitting the private Land Partner to lease/allocate with land or conversion of land
use purpose; then PPC notifies on the recovery of land for the project and conduct land clearance
and compensation procedures.
c. The selected Land Partner obtains approvals to develop solar park infrastructures. Once
the Land Partner is selected, the Land Partner obtains necessary approvals e.g., EIA approval,
construction permit to construct the solar park infrastructures (fencing, transmission line, water access
etc.).
d. Phase 2 – Selection of IPP
5 Environmental risks shared to the extent of scope undertaken by each stakeholder
32
- MOIT to announce launch of competitive bidding to select the IPP. Once the solar park
is ready for competitive bidding i.e. land is secured by Land Partner and all required approvals
obtained, the MOIT launches the Solar Competitive Bidding Program by announcing the location
of the solar park and its key parameters. PPCs initiates pre-qualification round by issuing the
dossiers of invitation for qualification, setting out the criteria to be met to be selected for RfP.
These selection criteria would be linked to the financial capacity of the IPP and its technical
experience.
- IPPs to submit their qualification package. The IPP presents (i) its financial strength and
capacity to raise debt, and (ii) experience in solar PV construction and operation. The precise
qualification documentation and eligibility/ qualifications to meet are to be finalized by the
government’s transaction advisor. Such prequalification stage can be clubbed into a single stage
RfP process in subsequent bidding rounds as market maturity is observed.
- PPC to select shortlisted IPPs and issue the RfP Package. Based on the pre-qualification
parameters, IPPs are shortlisted and the finalized RfP package is shared with them. The RfP
package may encompass (i) the solar park feasibility study, (ii) grid integration analysis, (iii) the
environmental impact assessment (EIA) and geotechnical analysis of the Solar Park, (iv) land
ownership details, (v) solar park agreement with the Land Partner, (vi) template PPA and
government support letter and (vii) if required, guarantee and financing term sheets.
- Bidding winner announced, contract signature and permits granted. After being
selected, the IPP carries out procedures to obtain the Investment Registration Certificate (or receive
the Investment Registration Certificate as the results of their winning of the bids without the need
to carry out seprate application process, if the bidding procedure is incorporated into the
investment approval procedures). IPPs enter into a solar park agreement with the Land Partner.
IPP enter into auxiliary technical agreements (including the Grid Connection Agreement) and PPA
with EVN or its relevant entities; obtain other permits and licenses (e.g., EIA approval, construction
permit, if required) for the project
Key roles and responsibilities
Role Actors Remarks

 MOIT preside over drafting process of revised
Government regulations (if required) and/or legal guidance and
Regulatory changes (with the support
submits the same to the Government for
of MOIT)
adoption/issuance.
 PPCs will organize bidding procedures to select

investor or Land Partners in accordance with either
o Investment Law with additional guidelines
PPC with support from the Government on the criteria for
Selection of Land
from MOIT and selection of Land Partner; or
Partner
EVN
o The selection process of investors for projects
using land under the Bidding Law and Decree
No. 30/2015/ND-CP.
 MOIT approves bidder selection plan for IPPs (i.e.

Bidding Package announcing the location of the solar park and its key
PPCs (with the
Preparation and parameters).
support of MOIT
Auctioneer for
and EVN)
selection of IPPs  PPCs will issue the dossiers of invitation for
qualification, the RfP based on templates provided by
33
laws, and preside over the selection process of

projects, in collaboration with the MOIT and other
relevant authorities. Such arrangement should be set
out under the legal document to be issued by the
Government or the MOIT for the competitive bidding
program.
EVN and NPT  Identify substations at which large solar parks could
Selection of
with support of
substation be developed
MOIT
Secure Land and  Suitability of the identified land for development of a
Land Partner solar park, based on the existing Land Use Plan and
develop solar park
the environmental norms applicable for solar projects
Construction of  Financing and construction of solar park
Solar Park Land Partner
infrastructure
Infrastructure
Approval of Tariff MOIT(with the  Adoption of competitive bidding results
support of ERAV
and EVN)
Legal consideration
For the selection of Land Partner in Phase 1, the Government may consider applying either the Investment
Law or the Bidding regulations to select investors for projects using land (Bidding Law and Decree No.
30/2015/ND-CP). Plus, the development of solar park infrastructure by the Land Partner can be subject to
regulations on the development of Industrial Zones, which inter alia require the Prime Minister's in-
principle approval.
For the selection of IPPs in Phase 2, the Government may consider using (i) MOIT's new Circular on
competitive bidding procedures for solar projects, (ii) Prime Minister's Decision or Government's Decree
guiding the Investment Law, Electricity Law and Law on Planning on competitive bidding procedures for
solar projects or (iii) the Bidding regulations for selection of contractor to provide goods and services
(Bidding Law and Decree No. 63/2014/ND-CP). It is recommended to use either option (i) or (ii) as they
only require the Government to set out additional guidance on the bidder selection procedures and criteria
for the solar competitive bidding program (rather than changing the existing regulations).
Key success and risks factors
The key constraints of the industrial solar park scheme are:
a. Risk of having higher tariff due to the double process. Higher tariff realization in the bidding
process due to higher solar park rental fee. Based on the level of competitiveness in the phase 1 of the
bidding process the Land Partner can make higher profit out of the solar park fee which means the
premium would be higher than for the public solar park. Thus impacting the tariff realized through
such solar parks.
b. Potential Delays or conflict. Since the development of solar project is dependent on the timeline of
solar park development, any delays by solar park developer could lead to potential conflict under the
contractual terms leading to delay or stalling of the project commissioning. Such private solar park
models have been explored globally with limited success owing to above highlighted challenges.
c. Need a good transaction structure with clear roles. A good transaction structure that clearly
defines roles, obligations and responsibilities of all parties between Procurer, Land Partner and the IPP,
34
and provides for reasonable risk sharing is critical to a successful solar park. These details should be
clearly outlined in the scope of solar park development to be undertaken by the Government, the Land
Partner and the IPP.
35
5. Solar Competitive Program Recommendations

The recommendations for the Solar Competitive Bidding Program are :
a. Plan a medium-term strategy which has clear procurement processes and timeline for
MW being procure under a stated scheme. The opportunity to develop large, utility-scale solar
projects attracts experienced developers and large investors, which confers significant benefits to the
sector. These companies are able to draw upon international economies of scale in procurement, use
modern technology, are able to get lower cost financing and bring robust competition. A defined
roadmap for capacity to be auctioned over a medium-term help take up the preparatory actions
necessary for project development. This would include identifying the potential sites to set up future
projects, creating site infrastructure (e.g., access roads, utilities, solar parks), strengthen the
transmission system at a local and national level. The project ecosystem (e.g., suppliers, fabricators,
service providers) may also acquire infrastructure and equipment in advance to meet the demand.
b. The bidding could be initiated with pilot bidding under substation bidding first followed
by public solar park scheme. The pilot auctions will help in establishing the process, addressing
any regulatory impediments, and building institutional capacity at the central and province level.
c. The public solar park scheme is preferred and therefore budget constraints for land
clearing needs to be addressed. The private solar park scheme (involving private investment in
developing a solar park in which the solar projects or IPPs have to be located) is not optimal because
i. Higher tariff realization in the bidding process due to higher solar park rental fee. Since private
developers have already identified most of the land parcels for solar projects, the level of
competition in a single province for land partner is likely to be low thus increasing the park
rental fee determined through the bid process in phase 1 of Land Partner selection.
ii. Participation from international investors shall be limited and could depend on the type of
counterparty in the private solar park. Certain solar project developers may choose not to bid
or participate in private solar parks in the bidding process leading to lower competition or
unoccupied park capacity. This could make the business model of solar park unviable limiting
the scalability of the model across provinces.
iii. Potential Delays or conflict, since the development of solar project is dependent on the
timeline of solar park development, any delays by solar park developer could lead to potential
conflict under the contractual terms leading to delay or stalling of the project commissioning.
iv. Lengthy process to select the Land Partner and potential need to revise the current
regulations or to issue additional guidelines:
 If the selection process follows the Investment Law, the Government will need to
issue additional guidelines on the criteria for selection of Land Partner; or
 If the selection process of investors for projects using land under the Bidding Law
and Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP, amendments to Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP will be
required to apply the criteria on solar park fee for the selection of the winning Land
Partner.
36
Public solar park scheme of capacity size greater than 100 MW is recommended. The PPC and EVN
may have issues with finding the budget to clear the land and develop the solar park infrastructure.
Therefore, this issue needs to be addressed by Government of Vietnam.
d. Legal framework changes. Following these pilot auctions, suitable policies may be adopted for
scaling-up development of solar projects through auctions. The Government may need to issue
additional legal guidance to accommodate the competitive bidding program.
Indicative medium-term roadmap for 5000 MW solar auctions
4000 MW
(Achieve target by 2025 as
per revised PDP VII)
850 MW
(target as per 500 500
revised PDP VII)
500
250
1000 1000
500 500 500
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Substation bidding Solar Park bidding
37
6. Key Next Steps

In order to undertake solar competitive bidding in Vietnam, MOIT will need to formulate a long-term plan,
design a Competitive Bidding Program and facilitate its operationalization. More precisely:
a. Revise the legal framework. The Government may need to revise the law and/or issue a legal
document guiding the existing law, under which the competitive bidding will be implemented.
MOIT and MPI will preside over the drafting process, collect opinions from relevant stakeholders
and submit the draft to Government for adoption/issuance prior to launching the competitive
bidding program.
b. Prime Minister Decision on the pilot competitive bidding program. Prior to the adoption
of all revisions to the legal framework (if required) and issuance of the legal document guiding on
competitive bidding process, the pilot competitive bidding program could be implemented under a
Decision of the Prime Minister.
c. Competitive Bidding Program design. MOIT will have to prepare a medium-term

Competitive Bidding Program and obtain approval identifying clearly the deployment schemes
selected, targets and timeline, the key roles of each stakeholder and the selection framework:
- Deployment scheme type. MOIT will need to validate which competitive bidding scheme(s) will
be implemented in Vietnam
- Targets and timeline. MOIT will need to validate the targets and timeline of each scheme.
Following the Revised PDP 7 solar PV targets, the Competitive Bidding Program will have to clearly
state for each type of solar competitive bidding scheme how many MW are expected to be procure.
As proposed in this report, 3.5 GW of solar PV deployed under a substation-linked competitive
bidding and 1.75 GW under public solar park competitive bidding could be procured by 2024.
- Stakeholder role. MOIT will need to validate the role of each stakeholder under the selected
competitive bidding scheme(s). If the proposed recommendation in this report is validated, under
the identified law, the Government or the Prime Minister will assign MOIT as the authority to
approve bidders’ selection plan and be the auctioning agency to prepare the RfPs. MOIT shall also
be empowered to constitute an evaluation committee with respective PPC, EVN and other relevant
ministries to preside over the evaluation process and approve the bidders’ selection results.
- Bidding framework. MOIT and MPI will preside over drafting process of the guideline
framework for bidding process and contractual terms and submit the draft legal document to the
Government or the Prime Minister for adoption/issuance. It is key to provide uniformity to
different rounds of auction process that would need to be followed by the auctioning agency.
d. Select the Substations and Provinces for Pilot Schemes. MOIT will have to select a list of
provinces in which the first round of competitive bidding will be conducted, based on substation
availability, higher irradiation, land availability, inputs from PPCs, and the target capacity for the
pilot competitive bidding:
- Consultations with PPC. MOIT will have to consult the respective PPCs for availability of land
and undertake sufficient institutional capacity building in the Provinces for solar park bidding.
Such capacity building is necessary for them to identify the right land parcels, address any
infrastructure requirements and extend state support for solar park development to the extent
allowed under law
- VRE integration. EVN/NPT will have to undertake system studies in the selected Provinces for
integration of a solar capacity more than 50 MW at each substation (100 MW in case of Solar Park
38
Scheme). List of such available substations and the evacuation capacity will become the starting
point for undertaking the pilot competitive bidding.
- Final Selection for substation-linked competitive bidding. MOIT will have to finalize with
the Provinces and EVN/NPT the list of 110 kV and 220 kV substations with their possible maximum
MW amount of solar PV.
- Final Selection for solar park locations. MOIT will have to finalize with the Provinces and
finalize the location for solar parks that would be developed for the first solar park competitive
bidding.
e. Transaction advisory support. MOIT/EVN may have to hire a transaction advisor to support
them in the drafting of the bidding documents and the IPP selection process.
39
Annexes
A. Note on Vietnam Power Sector Reform Program
Background
Decision 63 issued in November 2013 (Decision 63), sets out a roadmap to restructure the power market
and establish a competitive market-driven environment. The objectives of the reform include:
a. developing a competitive electricity market in a phased and sustainable manner

b. attracting new investors to the power sector
c. reducing the state’s investment and subsidies in the power sector
d. improving the efficiency of the power sector and ensuring a stable and reliable supply of electricity,
and
e. reducing the pressure of increasing electricity tariff
Different stages of market development envisaged as part of the reforms are:
Level 1: Competitive generation power market (Viet Nam competitive generation market –
VCGM)
 The key characteristic of VCGM is that power generators can enter and sell electricity to EVN, the
only buyer at competitive prices.
Level 2: Competitive wholesale power market (Viet Nam Wholesale electricity market – VWEM)
 The key characteristics of VWEM is all power generators and wholesale power distributors will
enter the market. Therefore, besides EVN, there will be other wholesale buyers.
Level 3: Competitive retail power market
 Split distribution company activities into network management and operation, and retailing, with
end users served by the distribution company and free to choose their suppliers.
The Solar Auction strategy discussed and presented as part of the Solar auction strategy report for Vietnam
considers the current maturity in the market which largely follows the level 1 i.e. VCGM and presents the
shorter/medium term recommendations for implementation of solar auctions accordingly.
Further, we discuss below the long-term solar auction strategy that may be adopted according to the long-
term market reforms envisaged by Vietnam. We also discuss a brief summary of the report presented by
Intelligent Energy Systems (IES) and their key recommendations on competitive market in the long term.
Options to improve long-term generation adequacy in Vietnam
Intelligent Energy Systems (IES) in collaboration with SW Advisory (SWA) and Energy Market Consulting
Associates (EMCa) has presented a report on options to improve long-term generation adequacy in Vietnam
as part of their submission to the Asian Development Bank for Vietnam Power sector reform program.
The focus of the report is on the longer-term arrangements and not arrangements that would be introduced
in the shorter-term.
The report discusses the following in relation to the VWEM market and competitive auctions in such market
as below:
40
Presently, in the Vietnam Competitive Generation Market (VCGM) there are the following categories of
participant.
 Direct Trading Generators (DTGs) – which are centrally dispatched and which have in place SPPAs and
 Indirect Trading Generators (ITGs) – which are not dispatched centrally (instead scheduled ahead of
time) which includes: BOT projects, Strategic Multi-purpose Hydro Plants (SMHPs) and various other
exceptions
The best long-term option for VWEM participation is to require all new generation (including solar) to
participate in the VWEM. However, this option requires a mature VWEM to be in place. Therefore, an
interim measure may be adopted, where EPTC (EVN) operates as the IPP trader on behalf of the developer
unless the developer elects to operate directly in the VWEM as the trader.
In summary, for interim measure until maturity of VWEM market the report recommends the following
spot payment
VWEM
(Spot Market)
spot purchases
long-term
financial
Project contract
Developer EVN EPTC
Power
(Direct Trader)
Corporation #1
VWEM financial
contract(s)* .
.
VWEM .
(Forward Market) Power
Corporation #5
Mechanism to
“true-up”
Source: IES Report (Refer section 11.3.2 of the IES report for more details)
For longer term when VWEM matures it recommends the following
41
spot payments VWEM

(SMO)
Project
Power
Developer
Corporation #1
(Direct Trader)
Power
long-term financial Corporation #2
contracts .
spot purchases
.
.
Power
Corporation #5
Source: IES Report (Refer section 11.3.3 of the IES report for more details)
Further, the report recommends migrating to financial PPA based contracting with Contract for Differences
based payments over the existing Physical PPA regime for all new projects across technologies including
Solar. Effectively requiring the project developers to recover the cash flows from the spot market and the
EVN (in interim) or the Power Corporations (in the long term) for the differences as quoted in the auction
prices.
Recommendations on Long term Solar Competitive Bidding Program
 Type of bidding strategy
 The bidding models for solar competitive bidding namely - Substation based bidding and Solar
Park bidding enables developments of solar projects by identifying location/evacuation nodes with
available capacity or demand requirement thus enabling least cost planning.
 In long term, even with migration to VWEM, selection of solar projects with Substation based
bidding and Solar Park bidding models will help achieve the reform objective of improving the
efficiency of electricity supply and reduce pressure of increasing electricity tariff.
 Further, with maturity of VWEM, the spot market prices can provide direction to developers to
choose or bid for substations accordingly in these bidding models. The spot market prices i.e.
market dynamics shall drive further solar project development and locations.
 Hence, the bidding models selected are integrating smoothly into the VWEM.
 Contracting structure
Migration of Physical PPA to Financial PPA with Contract for Differences even as an interim measure
to align with long term VWEM market requires further evaluation of the following:
42
 Depth of the Wholesale Electricity Market: the level of transaction in terms of energy
procured through market for meeting demand indicates the maturity in the market. Higher market
depth allows visibility of market prices and reduces volatility in market prices due to any sudden
variations in supply or demand. A snapshot of market depth across various country indicates the
level of market maturity in such wholesale electricity market globally where solar auctions have
been undertaken through physical PPA auction mechanism.
Electricity Market Depth in Different Countries

1400 8.0%
1200 7.0%
6.0%
1000
Billion Units
Percentage
5.0%
800
4.0%
600
3.0%
400
2.0%
200 1.0%
0 0.0%
India GCC Japan South Africa
Total Supply in the country (BUs) Energy traded in market
Source: Market news, Power exchange volumes for 2017-2018 (GCC – Gulf Cooperation Council)
The penetration of electricity markets is less than 10% in most countries. Most of the contracts are
bilateral and hence physical PPAs in auctions is a preferred method of contracting. Developed
countries like US-Europe where such power volumes in the exchange market is more than 50%-
60% provides for the required market dynamics in supply and demand to address volatility in
market prices for long term contracts in Solar.
 Counter party credit risk: SMO’s credit worthiness shall also have a critical role in success of
solar auctions. SMO credit rating will be influenced by the credit worthiness of retail (PCs) and
trading entities such as EVN and other market participants. Thus, in the interim, if the Solar project
development or auction mechanism is linked to VWEM spot market then such development would
require developers to rely on spot market prices backed by a low SMO credit worthiness,
 Attracting International Finance: Financiers and investors may not accept PPAs that are on
Contract for Differences instead of being a Physical PPA. Financial market including international
financiers to have confidence in the VWEM Rules, such market would need to show maturity and
market depth as discussed earlier.
Therefore, the transition of contracting from Physical PPA to CfD based structuring in the interim could
result in a higher tariff discovery in the auction mechanism due to addition of such revenue uncertainty
risks linked with the performance of VWEM.
Thus, in line with Decision 63, where it emphasizes the stage wise development of electricity market along
with reduced pressure on tariff prices, it is recommended to continue Physical PPA based mechanism for
solar projects as discussed in Solar Auction Framework report till the market maturity of VWEM is achieved
in the long term.
43
Legal Considerations
 In terms of next phase of VWEM, recently, the MOIT issued Circular No. 45/2018/TT-BCT dated 15
November 2018 with its effective date of 1 January 2019 (Circular No. 45), to provide for guidelines on
the operation of VWEM.
 Circular No. 45's guidelines on the operation of VWEM provide for general implications for non-
hydropower renewable power projects (i.e., including solar power projects) as follows:
o Non-hydropower renewable power projects with installed capacity of larger than 30MW may "elect
to participate" in the VWEM and in case of electing to participate, then will be subject to the
requirements for power generators participating in the VWEM under the law and implementing
regulations on the VWEM. For other non-hydropower renewable power projects (i.e., those with
installed capacity of up to 30MW), they can elect to participate by INDIRECT method (without
directly offering tariff and without application of tariff mechanism of VWEM). 6
o As a next step to supplement legal framework for implementation, the ERAV will need to formulate
guidelines on the participation specifically for non-hydropower renewable power projects (i.e.,
including solar power projects).7
Recommendations from legal perspectives:
o Under the current model PPA for solar power projects, power sellers of solar power projects have
the right to elect to participate in the power market in accordance with regulations on the
competitive power markets. In case a power seller elects to participate in VWEM, it will need to
provide 120 days' advance written notice to the power purchaser and to the ERAV and in such case,
the parties to the PPA may unilaterally terminate the existing PPA. This mechanism is provided as
an alternative option for solar power sellers to consider rather than a compulsory requirement. 8 As
such, the Government of Vietnam can consider to continue its application of this kind of Physical
PPA for solar auction framework.
o When the market maturity of VWEM is achieved in the long term, if the Government of Vietnam
wishes to encourage solar power developers to participate in VWEM, the Government of Vietnam
may consider sufficient incentives for solar and other non-hydro renewable power projects. In
addition to addressing counterparty credit risk for SMO, among other things, the Government of
Vietnam can consider to have contractual framework include clear protection of change in law.
Developers of those projects with a fixed tariff having been secured under solar auction program
(as well as FIT program) to ensure that the Government, power purchasers (off-taker) takes the
risk of the law changing after the date of the executed PPA in such a way as to diminish the economic
returns of the transaction for solar power sellers. This can be done by way of including in the model
PPA or legal framework a specific provision on changes in law and adjustments to the electricity
payments in case of migration of a physical PPA under solar auction program to a financial PPA
under VWEM.
6 Articles 4.2 and 4.3(b) and 3.21 of Circular No. 45.

7 Article 131.4 of Circular No. 45.
8 Circular No. 16/2017/TT-BCT of the MOIT, Annex II, Article 9.3.
44
B. Bidding for approved projects missing FIT timeline

Considering the case of projects that have been approved under the FIT scheme but will not be completed
within the scheme’s timelines:
Relevant issues of the FIT scheme
a. The current Feed-in Tariff Scheme (FIT 1) offers a tariff of USD 9.35 cents per kWh for projects
that are commissioned by 30 June 2019. An extension has been granted to projects in Ninh Thuan
province9, which continues the scheme till the end of 2020 subject to a capacity limit of 2000 MW.
b. The MOIT have approved about 7.2 GW of solar projects that are eligible for the FIT tariff if they
are commissioned by the target date. These are at various stages of development and it is likely that
some may not be completed within the deadline.
c. These projects can be, broadly, categorized into:
 Category 1: Projects with a signed PPA and having invested sizeable capital viz., at least 80% of
the project cost or have completed most of the construction and may have missed the deadline
due to delay in transmission infrastructure or connectivity at the substation.
 Category 2: Projects with a signed PPA, construction permit and grid connection agreement
but with limited demonstrable progress at the site, possibly, due to inability to obtain financing
for the project beyond the sponsor’s immediate investment.
 Category 3: Projects that have made no progress on obtaining approvals, for example, that do
not have a signed PPA, or lack a construction permit or have not obtained approval for EIA.
The options for remedy
The government may propose a specific resolution for these categories of approved projects beyond FIT 1
deadline allowing them to continue. It has been reported that the FIT scheme could be extended, albeit with
a reduced tariff for projects beyond the original deadline (FIT 2). However, as on date, no policy or decree
have been issued towards this.
The options available in the present situation are:
a. For Category 1 projects, the government could decide to offer FIT 2 or consider putting the project
to an auction to select a new/existing bidder for a lower tariff than FIT 1.
This, potentially, can require the government to transfer the license and approvals granted for the
existing project to a new sponsor. Under the existing laws, this is possibly only by withdrawing the
existing license and granting a new license. Further, such a withdrawal of license can be considered
only where the project has suffered a delay of at least 24 months. 10 In effect, the government may
be obliged to extend FIT 2 as the option for such projects.
b. For Category 2 projects, given the limited progress, an auction to determine the tariff applicable for
its PPA can be undertaken. The bidding process can be tailored for these projects, for example, by
9Resolution No. 115/NQ-CP dated 31st August 2018

10It must be noted that even in cases where 24 months has elapsed, a licensee could be delayed as one or
more of the required consents remain pending for reasons beyond its control.
45
setting the qualification criteria to say, having a valid grid connection agreement or construction
license etc., besides other standard criteria such as achieving financial close.
The following considerations could be taken into account:
 If such bidding for approved solar projects is conducted when FIT is still in force (i.e., in event
of an extension), fewer bidders may participate as they continue to have the FIT option. This
becomes less of an issue towards the end of the FIT scheme when the remaining time is not
sufficient to develop a new project.
 The bidding for approved projects should be undertaken through a substation linked bidding
so that they remain in line with the transmission development plan and are assured of available
transmission capacity at the substations in the province.
 Projects that have obtained a grid connection agreement could be asked to migrate to another
substation under the bidding scheme in case the original substation has exhausted its available
capacity with commissioning of other projects.
 The projects with MOIT approval are typically below 50 MW capacity, for which distribution
voltage substation linked bidding can be adopted.
c. For Category 3 projects, government may decide to allow the approvals already granted to continue
for them to participate in the regular bidding process through substation linked bidding.
Legal considerations in bidding for projects missing FIT timelines
a. The bidding regulation to select contractor for procurement of goods and services is the closest legal
basis for solar tariff auction as described earlier. However, amendment to current bidding
regulations (Bidding Law, Decree No. 63/2014/ND-CP and guiding Circulars) may be required to
accommodate the solar tariff auction.
b. The treatment and consequences for projects that fail even in the bidding process will need to be
considered (such as FIT 2, or extension of project schedule, or others, noting that under the
investment law only when the project development schedule is delayed over 24 months can such
investment approval be withdrawn).
c. As noted earlier, if the government proposed a new FIT scheme post June 2019, then projects
failing to meet the COD before 30 June 2019 could prefer to migrate to the revised FIT scheme than
take part in a solar auction. The procedures by which a bidding model and a FiT model can operate
in parallel will need to be considered.
46
C. Decentralized substation linked bidding
In this variation of substation linked bidding, the solar projects will connect at distribution level voltage
(viz., 6 kV/11 kV, 22 kV or 33 kV). The projects are comparatively smaller in size and tend to be sponsored
by smaller developers and local investors. The resultant tariffs may be slightly higher, in the absence of scale
and a higher cost of financing, but they provide an opportunity for smaller enterprises to participate and
bring the benefit of distributed generation.
The planning agency or EVN would set the capacity limit for a given voltage level in drafting the auction
terms and conditions. The typical capacity range and voltage level considering multi-circuit lines/bays are
as follows:
Voltage level Capacity range

6 kV / 11 kV Up to 10 MW
22 kV Up to 30 MW
33 kV / 35 kV Up to 50 MW
Distribution substation linked bids are usually smaller because of technical limitations. Thus these, are
likely to be managed within the individual provinces, and it may be tailored to suit local needs. The bidder,
at this voltage level, will have to assess more considerations, such as high line losses, curtailment risks,
higher downtime in event of a failure, etc., which translates into higher tariffs unless the contractual
framework offers a better risk sharing mechanism.
The roles of the principal institutions
DOIT:
 To coordinate technical studies for relevant distribution substations to determine the available
capacity for connecting new solar projects and provide inputs on the total capacity available in
the province for conducting an auction.
MONRE/DONRE:
 To provide inputs to the auctioning agency on the type of land available and suitability for solar
projects as per environmental norms and grant of EIA to qualifying projects that are selected
in the auctions.
PPC and EVN:
 Similar to substation linked bidding at national level.
47
DOIT and PPC DOIT PPC DOIT
To identify within Determine available To recommend the Submit auction

the province, sub- capacity for new solar bid capacity viz., plan to PPC for
stations with 11 kV, projects and initiate capacity to be approval
22 kV and 33 kV any technical studies tendered in this
voltage levels that are necessary round of bidding
DOIT and PPC DOIT and PPC PPC and MOIT
Select projects until To accord approval for auction

target bid capacity is plan taking into account the
met. Send letter of bid capacity, auction plans of
award to the winning Conduct bids to locate projects other provinces, total resource
bidders who qualified potential, land availability,
and have followed all procurement plan for the year
bid procedures set by as per government policy etc.
the Government
Legal considerations
Similar to substation linked bidding.
48
D. Criteria for selection of a Solar Park site
The following salient principles are used in identifying site / land for solar park: 11
a. Type of land and land-use:
 A contiguous land parcel with total area to accommodate 1.2 to 1.4 hectares per MWp (this is
to enable any of the various solar PV technologies to be used and allow optimal DC:AC ratio in
plant configuration).
 The terrain should be reasonably flat or a limited slope (0 - 7° in North-South orientation) with
no objects casting a shadow.
 To take note of areas to avoid such as nearby military facilities, area affected by armed conflict,
flood plains, areas with environmental restrictions such as fragile areas or bird migration path,
protected habitats, natural parks, archeological sites etc.
 The design criteria to be verified against soil characteristics of the land, both, relating to soil
strength required for solar deployment and in compliance with the local regulations. In some
jurisdictions, in our experience, the local regulations could be far more onerous than standards
prescribed by the industry, resulting in higher civil structure costs.
b. Site Condition
 The level of solar irradiation has a direct and significant impact on solar generation costs. For
a large-scale solar park or project a GTI of 1700 kWh/m2 or above is preferred.
 The site selection is additionally defined by the wind speeds, extreme weather conditions (such
as high temperature, fog), pollutants (in this case, dust, sand, salty air), and relative humidity.
c. Infrastructure
 The potential interconnection point at the EVN substation should be within 30 km distance. If
such an identified substation requires system strengthening, then, an appropriate amendment
to the power system plan and concomitant works will have to be undertaken.
 A usable road access to the site should exist or a budget to develop it should be provisioned in
the project cost. This has an implication of timeline and costs and bidders incorporate site
readiness and cost of logistics (e.g., distance from the ports or railway terminal to the site) in
pricing their bids.
11 Refer Section 1.7.2 for detailed methodology for selection of solar park sites
49
DAK-LAK Province: as an example

As indicated earlier, the contents of this Annexure are our additional views meant to assess and illustrate
next steps that the government and institutions can readily undertake with available data. Further studies
and assessments (e.g., system studies, site investigations, diligence etc.) will have to be done by appropriate
agencies.12
 Stage 1: An approach for identifying the land parcels
a. Selecting the provinces
Dak-Lak province has an average annual GTI ranging between 1600 to 2000 kWh/m2 (as determined
from the Global Solar Atlas by Solargis) and large parcels of land available as per the Land Use plan.
The solar irradiation is comparatively modest (see below comparison with other countries conducting
solar auctions), so areas with GTI above 1800 kWh/m2 could be considered for a pilot solar park.
b. Land Use filter
The type of land (viz., Unused, Protected, Agricultural, Industrial land) based on a review of Land Use
data provided to us by the provinces, the following unused land parcels have been plotted.
 In this analysis only unused land is

taken. Other land types such as
below, which can be converted, are
not considered:
o Agricultural land
o Industrial land
o Urban/built up land etc.
 In other provinces where unused

land is not available, land listed for
Unused land other categories but not used can
(shaded with red) be sought for conversion as
- ~450 parcels allowed under regulations.
Figure 1: Overall unused land

c. Protected land filter
The land parcels in protected areas are eliminated from further analysis. Further, any land parcels near
water bodies (land near lower reservoir) is not considered for this assessment (i.e., it is excluded for
ground-mounted solar parks, but may be considered for assessing floating solar projects).
12The data used in demonstrating the methodology is taken as received from the provinces and has not
been independently vetted. The aim is to show that credible next steps can be undertaken with existing data
and is not meant to recommend a site or confirm the data used.
50
 Similarly, land types

such as forest reserves,
national parks etc., are
taken as protected areas.
 The following protected

areas in Dak-Lak
province as excluded:
Yok don National Park,
Nam kar Nature Reserve,
Chu yung sin National
Park and Ea So Nature
Reserve.
 Land parcel near such

protected areas and
water bodies are
excluded (~ 50 such
unused lands were
dropped from further
analysis).
Figure 2: Protected area
d. Contiguity filter
The land permitted for setting up a solar plant is restricted to 1.2 hectares/MWp as per Circular 16
(similar limits exist in many jurisdictions to prevent hoarding). For a large-scale solar park, land
area needed for say, planning a 100 MW project is about 200 ha considering the optimal DC:AC
ratio in plant design.
 The land parcels highlighted

show contiguous unused land
suitable for at least 50 MW
project.
 This gives us 57 land parcels

that meet all preceding criteria
and offer contiguous land for
setting up a 50 MW ground
mounted solar power project.
Figure 3: Unused land with area>100ha

e. GTI filter
The land parcels selected so far are further filtered to drop sites with annual GTI below 1700 kWh/m2 to
give us the final set of available land parcels for a solar park. This gives us 18 land parcels.
51
Figure 4: Identified parcels in Dak Lak Province
 Stage 2: Methodology to selection of location under a multicriteria assessment

To conduct this assessment the key criteria are primary access infrastructure and resources (viz., land
availability, solar potential, terrain, transmission capacity, road access) and rated them on a scale based on
current and planned infrastructure relative to other land parcel/provinces.
The following table defines these criteria and ratings:
Scaling criteria
Weightage Criteria Parameters to be accessed
(Score from 1 to 5)
15% Land Potential o Land potential: Land area has 1. Land type defined other than
to be calculated in hectare. unused (no forest or protected)
of > 500 ha
o Effective area: The land that
can effectively utilized for solar 2. Non Contiguous (2-3 parcel)
park (or maximum slope less unused land of > 500 ha
than 12%)
3. Non Contiguous (2-3 parcel)
o Contiguity and type of land: unused land of > 1000 ha
Whether land is contiguous
4. Contiguous unused land > 500
and unused land.
ha
5. Contiguous unused land of >
1000 ha
25% Solar potential o Average GHI value 1. GHI>1700

2. GHI>1800
o Potential DC PLF; calculate
3. GHI>1850
from PVout value for that
4. GHI>1900
parcel
5. GHI>2000
52
Scaling criteria
Weightage Criteria Parameters to be accessed
(Score from 1 to 5)
35% Land characteristics o Average slope of parcel: 1. Average slope less than 6% and
Optimum should be <7% max slope less than 12%
o Maximum Slope of parcel: 2. Average slope less than 4% and
Optimum should be <12% max slope less than 12%
3. Average slope less than 4% and
max slope less than 9%
15% Transmission o Existing and proposed 1. New transmission system to be
network substation and transmission: planned
line distance from the site for 2. Substation can be planned based
110kV, 220kV, 500kV on existing line within 10 km
3. planned 220 or 500 by 2025
within 10 km
4. existing 220 or 500 within 10 -
20 km
5. existing 220 or 500 within 10 km
10% Roadway access o Distance of site from: 1. No nearby highway access
o National highway 2. Provincial highway within 10 km
o Provincial highway
3. Provincial highway within 5 km
4. National highway within 10 km
5. National highway within 5 km
An analysis for the selected 18 land parcels rated on infrastructure (scale of 1 to 5) is as follows:
Parcel Land Solar Land Transmission Roadway Total

No. Potential Potential Characteristics network access score
1 4 3 5 2 5 3.9
12 4 2 5 1 2 3.2
6 5 1 4 2 4 3.1
18 4 3 3 2 3 3
7&8 4 1 3 2 5 2.7
9 5 1 2 2 5 2.5
2, 3, 4 & 3 2 1 2 5 2.1
5
16 0 3 0 3 5 1.7
14 0 3 0 2 4 1.45
17 0 3 0 2 4 1.45
15 0 3 0 2 3 1.35
10 0 1 0 2 5 1.05
11 0 1 0 2 5 1.05
53
Parcel Land Solar Land Transmission Roadway Total

No. Potential Potential Characteristics network access score
13 0 2 0 1 3 0.95
The land parcels scoring higher than 3 are identified as high-potential land parcels for development of a
pilot solar park, namely no. 1, 6, 12 and 18.
54
E. An outline of the potential sites identified for Solar Parks
 Parcel- 1 (400 MW)

a. Solar and Land potential
Key outcomes
 Parcel 1 is unused land that
is contiguous.
 Land potential is suitable
for a Solar Park up to a
capacity of ~400 MW.
 Annual GHI value of 1850
kWh/m2, with estimated
DC PLF of ~16.4% (as per
PVout value).
coordinates- 13.392292,
108.127441
b. Land characteristics
Parcel 1 has a reasonable solar potential with average annual GHI of 1850 kWh/m2 and DC PLF of 16.4%.
The land is relatively flat and slope is within technical norm (Average slope < 7% and Maximum slope
<12%). The slope and elevation profile is shown below:
Horizontal Slope
and elevation
Average slope< 2%, suitable for solar park
55
Vertical slope and elevation
Average slope< 3%, suitable for

solar park
Key observations:
 The average slope for the land available at this site is within the norms (i.e. 7%), appropriate
for a Solar Park. The Maximum slope is ~4-6% and Average slope: ~2-3%.
c. Roadway access
 The national highway HA13 is at a distance of 2-3 km and provincial road is within a distance
of 10-12 km from the site. The solar park appears well accessible.
d. Transmission plan
 As per current plans, an upcoming (2016-20) 220 kV line (from Krong Buk 220 kV SS to Pleiku
220 kV SS) passes near site, which can be an option for substation connectivity. Also, a 500kV
substation planned for 2021-25 at a distance 40-50 km.
 The graphic below shows grid and roadway connectivity for Parcel 1:
Parcel-1
Provincial
road
National 220 kV
highway Substation
500 kV Tx line
and Tx line
56
 Parcel-6 (550 MW)

 Parcel 6 is a contiguous,
unused land though with a
protected area about 1-1.5
km away.
 The land potential is

suitable for a solar park of
up to ~550 MW.

DC PLF of 15.8% (as per
PVout value)
coordinate –
12.917568, 108.507843
The land is flat with moderate slope and drops under technical norm (Average slope < 7 % and Maximum
slope <12%). The slope and elevation profile is shown below:
Horizontal slope and elevation
Average slope< 3%, suitable for solar park,

Maximum slope ~7%
57
Vertical slope and elevation
Average slope< 3.2%, suitable for solar park,

Maximum slope ~8.5%
Key observations:
 The land terrain at this site is with the norms (i.e., 7%) for a solar park. The Maximum slope is
~7-9% and Average slope: ~3-3.5%.
c. Roadway access
 A national highway HA13 is at a distance of 8-10 km and a provincial road with 2-4 km from
the site. The potential road access, thus, appears good.
 A 220 kV transmission line passes through the site. The scope to construct a new substation
near the site to connect to the existing 220 kV line could be assessed.
 As per grid study plan, an upcoming (2016-20) 220 kV line (Krong Buk 220 kV substation to
Nha Trang 220 kV substation) passes by the site, offering an option for substation connectivity;
further, a 500kV substation planned in 2021-25 at a distance 90-100 km.
220 kV Substation
and Tx line
National
highway Provincial
road
500 kV Tx line
Parcel-6
58
 Parcel 12 (250 MW)
 Parcel 12 is a contiguous,
unused land.
 The land potential is suited
for solar park up to capacity
of ~250 MW.
DC PLF of 15.9% (as per PV
25-30 kms
out value).
coordinate – 12.626938,
108.500977
The land is comparatively flat with moderate slope and within the technical norms (Average slope < 7 %
and Maximum slope <12%). Specifically, the Maximum slope: ~8-10% and Average slope: ~2 %.
The slope and elevation profile is shown below:
Horizontal slope and

elevation
Average slope< 2%
Maximum slope ~10%
59
Vertical slope and

elevation
Average slope< 2%
Maximum slope ~8%
c. Grid evacuation and Roadway access
 The national highway HA13 is at some distance to the site (20-25 km) and provincial road is
also 10-15 km away. This could entail a significant effort to build access road to the site.
 A 220 kV transmission line passes by the site at a distance 30-40 km, and a 500 kV line is about
20-30 km from the site. The scope to build a substation at the site may be considered.
 As per grid study plan, a new upcoming (2021-25) 220 kV line (Krong Buk 220 kV substation
to Krong Ana 220 kV) passes with a distance 20-30 km, and a 500kV substation planned in
2021-25 at a distance of over 100 km.
220 kV Tx
line
220 kV sub National highway

station
500 kV
Tx lines
Parcel-12
Provincial
Roads
60
 Parcel – 18 (300 MW)
The solar potential for Parcel 18 is about 1860 kWh/m2 per year. The area of 640 ha (but with an effective
area of 590 ha excluding hilly terrain) can be utilized for solar park. The land is contiguous and unused. It
is suitable for a solar park capacity of ~ 300 MW.
 Annual GHI value of ~1860 kWh/m2, with estimated DC PLF of 16.4% (as per PV out value).
 The terrain area highlighted in blue color represents slope/terrain exceeding norms and is
excluded from the analysis.
High terrain/ hilly

area, excluded
from total area
10-15 kms
*Effective area = total area of parcel – area covered under hills/terrain

*coordinate - 12.849293, 107.918701
The land is comparatively flat and within the technical norms. The slope & elevation profile is shown below:
Horizontal slope and

elevation
Average slope< 2%
Maximum slope ~5.4%
61
Vertical slope and

elevation
Average slope< 5% (excluding
hilly area)
Maximum slope ~5% (Excluding
hilly area)
Key observations:
 The average slope for the land available at this site is within the norms for a solar park. The
Maximum slope is ~5-6% and Average slope: ~5-6 %
c. Grid evacuation and Roadway access
 A national highway 14C is at a considerable distance from the site (40-45 km) and a provincial
road is within 4-5 km. The site access may not present significant issues.
d. Proposed grid plan
 A 220 and 500 kV transmission line passes by the site at a distance 10-15 km. The scope to set
up a new substation at the site to connect it the existing 220kV or 500 kV line may be assessed.
 As per grid study plan, an upcoming (2021-25) 220 kV line (Krong Buk 220 kV substation to
Krong Ana 220 kV) passed within 20-30 km, and a 500kV substation planned in 2021-25 at a
distance 20-30 km from site.
National highway
220 kV Substation
and Tx line
500 kV Tx line
Parcel-18
Provincial
road
62
F. Transmission substation list
The pilot auctions should be conducted in high resource potential areas in the central and southern regions
where annual GHI is more than 1700 kWh/m2. This means the solar park and transmission substation
bidding for pilot auction could be in one of the 10 provinces, shown in figure below.
Solar irradiation - top 10 provinces (annual GHI in kWh/m2)

2200
2100
2000
Annual GHI (kWh / m2)
1900
1800
1700
1600
1500
Bình Ninh Tây Ninh Bà Rịa - Bình Đắk Lắk Long An Gia Lai Khanh An Giang
Thuận Thuận Vũng Tàu Phước hoa
Source: Global Solar Atlas by Solargis
This section illustrates the methodology that could be used to select substations for transmission substation
linked bidding. For the top 10 provinces on solar irradiation we assess the existing & proposed transmission
capacity by 2020 for voltage levels of 110 kV, 220 kV and 500 kV. The total transformation capacity for
these provinces comes to 22,697 MVA of which 4,357 MVA is in Ba Ria.
Based on the above considerations, the provinces that could be selected for a pilot transmission substation
bidding are - Long An, Binh Thuan, Gia Lai, Tay Ninh and Dak Lak. This is based on a high-level view, and
has to be further analyzed using system studies undertaken by MOIT / NPT to determine capacity available
at each substation.
Selecting provinces for transmission substation linked bidding by 2020

10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Long An Bình Gia Lai Tây Ninh Đắk Lắk An Giang Bình Ba Ria– Khánh Ninh
Thuận Phước Vung Tau Hòa Thuận
Evacuation capacity (MVA) new build and existing Solar Capacity Prospective (MWp)
Solar Capacity Approved and Other generation sources (MW)
63
The transmission substation linked bidding require a project capacity of 50 MW or more. The developer
interest for such capacity currently appears to be 13.3 GW of which 3.2 GW are projects approved by MOIT.
It is expected that developers will have assessed the availability of land sites to develop solar projects in
these provinces.
Top 10 GTI level provinces and transmission network
Source: PDP VII revised power system plan
64
Year of SS- Capacity Generation

Province Substation Name GS- Name
Addition kV (MVA) (MW)
An Giang An Phú Existing 110 40 - -

An Giang Phú Châu Existing 110 40 - -
An Giang Châu Đốc Existing 110 65 - -
An Giang Phú Tân Existing 110 40 - -
An Giang Cái Dầu Existing 110 50 - -
An Giang CHỢ MỚI Existing 110 40 - -
An Giang An Châu Existing 110 65 - -
An Giang Long Xuyên Existing 110 80 - -
An Giang LONG XUYÊN 2 2016-20 110 63 - -
22
An Giang LONG XUYÊN 2 2016-20 0 250 - -
An Giang Thoại Sơn Existing 110 40 - -
An Giang Tri Tôn Existing 110 40 - -
An Giang Tịnh Biên Existing 110 40 - -
22
An Giang CHÂU ĐỐC Existing 0 375 - -
Bình Phước Bù Đăng Existing 110 65 TĐ Đăk Glun 18
Bình Phước TĐ Thác Mơ Existing 110 25 TĐ Thác Mơ 150
Bình Phước Bù Đốp Existing 110 40 TĐ Cần Đơn 77.6
Bình Phước Lộc Ninh Existing 110 50 TĐ Cần Đơn 77.6
TĐ Srông Phu
Bình Phước Lộc Ninh Existing 110 50 Miêng 51
Bình Phước Phước Long Existing 110 65 TĐ Thác Mơ 150
Bình Phước Vê Đan 2 Existing 110 15 - -
Bình Phước XM Bình Phước Existing 110 80 - -
Bình Phước Bình Long Existing 110 65 - -
Bình Phước ĐỒNG XOÀI Existing 110 65 - -
Bình Phước Chơn Thành Existing 110 80 - -
Bình Phước XM An Phú 2016-20 110 40 - -
Bình Phước KCN Đồng Xoài 2016-20 110 25 - -
Bình Phước KCN Minh Hưng 2016-20 110 40 - -
22
Bình Phước CHƠN THÀNH 2016-20 0 250 - -
22
Bình Phước BÌNH LONG Existing 0 250 - -
22
Bình Phước PHƯỚC LONG 2016-20 0 250 - -
Bình Thuận Tuy Phong Existing 110 45 Tuy Phong 21.5
Bình Thuận Phan Rí Existing 110 65 - -
Bình Thuận KCN Vĩnh Hảo 2016-20 110 63 - -
Bình Thuận Phú Lạc 2016-20 110 80 - -
Bình Thuận Tuy Phong 2 2016-20 110 90 - -
50 Not
Bình Thuận VĨNH TÂN Existing 0 1200 VĨNH TÂN Mentioned
22
Bình Thuận TĐ ĐẠI NINH Existing 0 188 TĐ ĐẠI NINH 300
22
Bình Thuận TĐ ĐẠI NINH Existing 0 188 Bắc Bình 33
Bình Thuận KCN Sông Bình 2016-20 110 126 - -
65

Bình Thuận Lương Sơn Existing 110 63 - -

Bình Thuận Thuận Niên Phong 2016-20 110 80 ĐG T.N.Phong 32
22 Not
Bình Thuận HÀM THUẬN Existing 0 63 HÀM THUẬN Mentioned
22
Bình Thuận HÀM THUẬN Existing 0 63 ĐA MI 175
Bình Thuận Ma Lâm Existing 110 63 - -
Bình Thuận Mũi Né Existing 110 80 - -
22
Bình Thuận PHAN THIẾT Existing 0 500 - -
Bình Thuận Phan Thiết Existing 110 126 - -
Bình Thuận Hàm Kiệm Existing 110 126 - -
Bình Thuận Thuận Nam Existing 110 126 - -
Bình Thuận Tân Thành 2016-20 110 25 - -
Bình Thuận Hàm Tân Existing 110 80 - -
22
Bình Thuận HÀM TÂN Existing 0 250 - -
Bình Thuận KCN Sơn Mỹ 2016-20 110 40 - -
Đắk Lắk Ea H'Leo Existing 110 40 - -
Đắk Lắk KRÔNG BUK Existing 110 65 - -
Đắk Lắk Krông Năng 2016-20 110 50 - -
Đắk Lắk Ea Kar Existing 110 50 - -
Đắk Lắk M'Đrăk 2016-20 110 50 - -
Đắk Lắk Cư M'Gar Existing 110 25 - -
Đắk Lắk Buôn Đôn 2016-20 110 50 - -
Đắk Lắk Hòa Thuận Existing 110 25 - -
Đắk Lắk Krông Păk Existing 110 40 - -
Đắk Lắk Hòa Bình 2 2016-20 110 50 - -
22
Đắk Lắk KRÔNG BUK Existing 0 375 SRÊPÔK 3 220
22
Đắk Lắk KRÔNG BUK Existing 0 375 SRÊPÔK 4 80
22
Đắk Lắk KRÔNG BUK Existing 0 375 SRÊPÔK 4A 64
Đắk Lắk Buôn Mê Thuột Existing 110 80 - -
Đắk Lắk Krông Ana Existing 110 25 - -
Đắk Lắk Krông Bông 2016-20 110 50 - -
Đắk Lắk Ea Tam Existing 110 40 - -
Đắk Lắk Hòa Phú 2016-20 110 80 - -
22
Đắk Lắk BUÔN KUỐP Existing 0 125 BUÔN KUỐP 280
Đắk Lắk Krông Ana 2 Existing 110 25 - -
Not
Mention
Gia Lai Đăk Đoa T/cắt Existing 110 ed Đăk Đoa 14
Gia Lai Sơn Lang 2 2016-20 110 65 Sơn Lang 2 24
Gia Lai K'Bang Existing 110 25 - -
50
Gia Lai PLEIKU Existing 0 1350 IALY 720
66

22
Gia Lai PLEIKU Existing 0 250 Sê San 3 260
22
Gia Lai PLEIKU Existing 0 250 Sê San 3A 108
22
Gia Lai PLEIKU Existing 0 250 Sê San 4 360
22
Gia Lai PLEIKU Existing 0 250 Sê San 4A 63
Gia Lai Mang Yang Existing 110 25 AYun Thượng 1A 12
Gia Lai Bien Ho Existing 110 65 - -
Gia Lai Diên Hồng Existing 110 65 - -
50
Gia Lai PLEIKU 2 Existing 0 450 - -
Gia Lai Ia Kênh 2016-20 110 25 - -
Gia Lai H'Mun Existing 110 25 TĐ H'Mun 16
Gia Lai Chư Sê Existing 110 25 - -
Gia Lai Chư Prông Existing 110 25 - -
Gia Lai Đức Cơ Existing 110 25 - -
Gia Lai Ia Grai 2016-20 110 25 - -
Gia Lai An Khê Existing 110 25 Đăk Srông 18
Gia Lai An Khê Existing 110 25 Đăk Srông 2 24
Gia Lai An Khê Existing 110 25 Đăk Srông 2A 18
Gia Lai Krông Ch'o 2016-20 110 25 Đăk Srông 18
Gia Lai Krông Ch'o 2016-20 110 25 Đăk Srông 2 24
Gia Lai Krông Ch'o 2016-20 110 25 Đăk Srông 2A 18
Gia Lai Ayun Pa Existing 110 32 Bã Mía 12
Gia Lai Ayun Pa Existing 110 32 Đăk Srông 3B 19
Gia Lai Ayun Pa Existing 110 32 Đăk Srông 3A 10.2
Gia Lai Krông Pa 2016-20 110 25 - -
NINH 22
THUẬN NINH PHƯỚC Existing 0 250 - -
NINH
THUẬN NINH PHƯỚC Existing 110 65 - -
NINH
THUẬN NMĐHN Ninh Thuận 1 2016-20 110 25 - -
NINH
THUẬN Khai Thác Titan 2016-20 110 25 - -
NINH
THUẬN Tháp Chàm Existing 110 80 - -
NINH
THUẬN Ninh Hải Existing 110 50 - -
NINH 22
THUẬN THÁP CHÀM Existing 0 125 - -
NINH
THUẬN ĐHN Ninh Thuận 2 2016-20 110 25 - -
NINH
THUẬN Ninh Sơn Existing 110 25 Sông Pha 9
NINH 22
THUẬN ĐA NHIM Existing 0 126 ĐA NHIM 160
NINH 22
THUẬN ĐA NHIM Existing 0 126 Sông Pha 9
67

Khánh Hòa Vạn Giã Existing 110 25 - -

Khánh Hòa Vân Phong 2016-20 110 40 - -
Khánh Hòa Ninh Thủy Existing 110 40 - -
Khánh Hòa VinaShin Existing 110 45 - -
Khánh Hòa NINH HÒA Existing 110 40 - -
Not
mention
Khánh Hòa Not mentioned Existing 110 ed - -
Khánh Hòa Sợi NT Existing 110 41 - -
Khánh Hòa Đồng Đế Existing 110 25 - -
Khánh Hòa Mã Vòng Existing 110 126 - -
Khánh Hòa Diên Khánh Existing 110 25 Song Giang 2 37
Khánh Hòa Diên Khánh Existing 110 25 Song Giang 1 12
Khánh Hòa Diên Khánh Existing 110 25 Song Cho 2 7
Khánh Hòa Bình Tân Existing 110 40 - -
Khánh Hòa Suối Dầu Existing 110 50 - -
Khánh Hòa BĐ C.Ranh Existing 110 25 - -
Khánh Hòa Cam Ranh Existing 110 50 - -
Khánh Hòa Nam Cam Ranh Existing 110 16 - -
Khánh Hòa XM Công Thanh 2016-20 110 40 - -
22
Khánh Hòa Nha Trang Existing 0 - -
Tây Ninh Tân Biên Existing 110 40 - -
Tây Ninh Tân Hưng Existing 110 103 - -
Tây Ninh XM Tây Ninh Existing 110 63 - -
Tây Ninh Bourbon Existing 110 20 - -
Tây Ninh Châu Thành Existing 110 40 - -
Tây Ninh Tây Ninh 2 2016-20 110 40 - -
Tây Ninh Tây Ninh Existing 110 126 - -
22
Tây Ninh TÂY NINH Existing 0 250 - -
Tây Ninh Hòa Thành 2016-20 110 63 - -
22
Tây Ninh TÂY NINH 2 2016-20 0 250 - -
Tây Ninh P.Đông-B.Lời 2 Existing 110 63 - -
Tây Ninh P.Đông-B.Lời Existing 110 63 - -
Tây Ninh Thạnh Đức Existing 110 25 - -
Tây Ninh Bến Cầu Existing 110 65 - -
22
Tây Ninh TRẢNG BÀNG Existing 0 500 - -
Tây Ninh KCN An Hòa 2016-20 110 40 - -
Tây Ninh Trảng Bàng Existing 110 65 - -
Tây Ninh KCN T.Bàng Existing 110 80 - -
Long An Mộc Hóa Existing 110 25 - -
Long An Thạnh Hóa Existing 110 40 - -
Long An Phú An Thạnh 2016-20 110 80 - -
Long An An Thạnh 2016-20 110 40 - -
68

Long An Đức Huệ Existing 110 63 - -

22
Long An ĐỨC HÒA 2016-20 0 500 - -
Long An Đức Lập Hạ 2016-20 110 63 - -
Long An Đức Lập Existing 110 126 - -
Long An KCN Xuyên Á 2016-20 110 80 - -
Long An Lê Long 2016-20 110 40 - -
Long An Đức Hòa Existing 110 126 - -
Long An BẾN LỨC 2016-20 110 250 - -
Long An Ching Luh Existing 110 30 - -
Long An Bến Lức Existing 110 80 - -
Long An Formosa Existing 110 15 - -
Long An Chung Sinh Existing 110 50 - -
22
Long An LONG AN Existing 0 500 - -
Long An Long An Existing 110 80 - -
Long An Tân An Existing 110 126 - -
KCN Bến Lức (Rạch
Long An Chanh) Existing 110 103 - -
Long An XM Long An Existing 110 16 - -
Long An Thuận Đạo 2016-20 110 65 - -
Long An Cần Giuộc NC 2016-20 110 63 - -
22
Long An CẦN ĐƯỚC 2016-20 0 250 - -
Long An Long Hậu Existing 110 40 - -
Long An KCN Nam Tân Lập 2016-20 110 63 - -
Long An Cần Đước Existing 110 56 - -
Ba ria - Existing 110 103 - -
22
50
Ba ria - Existing 0 450 Phu My 3900
22
69


22
22
Ba ria - Existing 0 125 ND Ba Ria 100
Total 22697 7701.9
70

World - Bank - Solar - Competitive - Bidding - Strategy - (PWC+BM) - Final Version

Transféré par

Informations du document

Description originale:

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

World - Bank - Solar - Competitive - Bidding - Strategy - (PWC+BM) - Final Version

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Vietnam Solar Competitive Bidding

PricewaterhouseCoopers and Baker McKenzie

COD Commercial Operation Date

Competitive Bidding Schemes Identified for Vietnam

Substation-linked Competitive Bidding

Substation-linked Competitive Bidding

The selection of the substations to be offered for bidding is multi-

The land is identified by the IPP around the substations provided as

- Prior to the bidding process:

Substation-linked Competitive Bidding

 Investment Policy Decision;

 In relation to construction and design: IPPs prepare

 Other licenses and approvals: PPC or DONRE issues EIA

b. Option 2: Substation-linked competitive bidding

- Prior to the bidding process:

Substation-linked Competitive Bidding

 The projects that are selected from the competitive bidding

Substation-linked Competitive Bidding

Public Solar Park Competitive Bidding

Public Solar Park Competitive Bidding

 MOIT issues approval for inclusion of the Solar Park

 PPC conducts land clearance procedures and obtain

 IPPs obtain Investment Registration Certificate (or receive

Public Solar Park Competitive Bidding

 MOIT's Circular on competitive bidding procedures for solar

 Prime Minister's Decision or Government's Decree guiding

 The public solar park competitive bidding is the bidding process

Private Solar Park Competitive Bidding

- Auctioneer (for both phases): PPC with the support of

After the recommendations of EVN/NPT on available 110 kV or 220

- Prior to bidding process:

Private Solar Park Competitive Bidding

- Phase 1 - Just after selection of Land Partner:

 MOIT approves the Solar Park registration into the PDP.

 IPPs obtain Investment Registration Certificate (or receive

 In relation to electricity sale and purchase: IPPs obtain

 In relation to construction and design: IPPs prepare

Private Solar Park Competitive Bidding

The recommendations for the Solar Competitive Bidding Program are:

2. Key Challenges in Solar Deployment in Vietnam

Province approved solar capacity and

Generation capacity planned from other sources (in MW)

3. Solar Competitive Bidding Schemes

Location Agnostic Competitive Bidding

Decentralized Competitive Bidding

Substation-linked Competitive Bidding

Public Solar Park Competitive Bidding

Private Solar Park Competitive Bidding

4. Selected Competitive Bidding: Mechanisms in the

4.1 Substation-linked competitive bidding

Key steps for bidding scheme

The substation linked bidding model’s key steps are:

iv. Cost of land in the nearby districts of the substation and

v. Solar irradiation levels around the substation.

Voltage level Capacity range

Identification of high potential provinces with

Transmission substation filter

Identification of 110 kV and 220 kV substations –

Existing generation filter

Identify existing and planned generation source in

System study No Undertake system studies to

Available capacity & Bidding Scheme