Data-center law in Vietnam
National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-07
Vietnam has no data-center-specific siting or permitting statute; a data-center project is governed by the general electricity-connection and electricity-market regime of the Law on Electricity, Law No. 61/2024/QH15, passed by the National Assembly on 30 November 2024 and in force since 1 February 2025, replacing the 2004 Electricity Law as amended.
Any electricity user, including a data centre, buys electricity under a power purchase agreement and is bound by Article 66's rights and obligations. Article 30's electricity-activity licensing regime binds an organisation only where it also generates, transmits, distributes, or sells electricity rather than purchasing it as a consumer.
The dedicated leads for environmental review (the Law on Environmental Protection, No. 72/2020/QH14), investment incentives (the Law on Investment, No. 61/2020/QH14, since revised as No. 24/2026/QH16), a data-centre or cloud-service duty under the Law on Telecommunications (No. 24/2023/QH15, Articles 28-29), and construction permitting are not described here. The National Assembly's own legislative portal, vbpl.vn, has served only server errors on every attempt so far.
Its companion National Assembly site, quochoi.vn, has served no readable text. A commercial statute search engine, thuvienphapluat.vn, presents a CAPTCHA challenge that this project treats as a stop rather than something to work around. An economic-research library, economica.vn, carries a range of older Vietnamese statutes but nothing enacted after 2019.
01
Instruments on record
2 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.
Energy and grid
What authorizations govern grid connection and onsite generation?
Electricity Law, Electricity Activity Licensing
In force
Law No. 61/2024/QH15, National Assembly, 30 November 2024, on Electricity, Article 30
Effective 2025-02-01 · Applies to both
Article 30 of the Electricity Law requires an organisation engaged in electricity generation, transmission, distribution, wholesale, or retail to hold an electricity activity licence for that field. That licence is granted only after the investment stage rather than during it. A data centre that only purchases electricity as a consumer does not need this licence; one becomes relevant only if the facility also generates and sells power, for example through an on-site power plant feeding the grid.
The Law replaces the 2004 Electricity Law (Law No. 28/2004/QH11, as amended) and took effect on 1 February 2025, per the Law's own Article 80.
Source: Full text of law
Electricity Law, Rights and Obligations of Electricity Users
In force
Law No. 61/2024/QH15, National Assembly, 30 November 2024, on Electricity, Article 66
Effective 2025-02-01 · Applies to both
Article 66 sets the rights and obligations of an electricity user, defined as an agency, organisation or individual that buys electricity for its own use rather than for resale. A data centre operating as a consumer draws electricity under a power purchase agreement and must pay charges fully and on time, use electricity safely and efficiently, and use it only for the purposes the agreement states.
The Law separately defines a 'major electricity user' as one with a large consumption capacity and output as the Ministry of Industry and Trade specifies, a definition a large data centre would likely meet, though the Law itself does not set the threshold or attach a distinct duty to that status beyond the general obligations of Article 66.
Source: Full text of law
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