Document threatening legal action by foreign investors against Vietnam for renewables

According to a document seen by the.

Last year, the 'dispute' began when Vietnam cut subsidised electricity prices from solar and wind farms. It cited irregularities. Vietnam's energy industry is struggling with high prices and the risk of shortages due to the conflict in Iran.

The chambers of commerce of the European Union, Britain and Japan in Vietnam, as well as South Korea, Thailand, and South Korea, sent a letter of joint concern to the government on Thursday.

The document, dated 12 March, stated that if payment obligations were not met, "electricity producers may seek to enforce remedies including dispute resolution in Vietnam or other jurisdictions."

The chambers urge authorities to find a'mutual agreement' to resolve a dispute which could result in defaults or significant losses for multi-billion dollar investments made by Vietnam in the renewable energy sector.

The Vietnam Ministry of Industry, which received the correspondence, did not respond immediately to a comment request.

The Southeast Asian nation has seen a boom of renewable energy investments in recent years. This was largely due to generous subsidies, or feed-in tariffs, under which the government committed to buy electricity at a price above market for 20 years.

The high tariffs pushed up the power prices of households and factories.

The retroactive changes to tariffs that took effect in 2025 followed an investigation into alleged abuses of preferential rates.

EVN had no immediate ?comment.

The letter is the culmination of several coordinated efforts to persuade Vietnam to change its course. In May, 16 firms signed a document, including the private equity fund Dragon Capital and the Vietnamese subsidiary of Philippines ACEN energy group. Also included were investors from Thailand and Portugal. Khanh Vu reported. Phuong Nguyen contributed additional reporting. Francesco Guarascio is the writer. Mark Potter (Editing)

(source: Reuters)