Vietnam Electricity (EVN)
State-owned monopoly that generates, transmits, and sells nearly all of Vietnam's electricity.
On the record
Checkpoint: Prime Minister's decision on Politburo Resolution 328 restructuring (split into transmission/generation/retail units or not)
The call
EVN's wires and default-supply role keep it standing, but its own government is carving pieces of its monopoly away year by year.
EVN runs Vietnam's electricity system, keeping lights on nationwide, which normally means steady profits. However, Vietnam's government is deliberately breaking up EVN's monopoly through new laws and restructuring plans, pushing private power companies to compete for generation work. The key question is whether EVN's transmission and local delivery business (the safest part) stays protected or also gets carved up in the 2026 restructuring decision, which will determine whether EVN employees and investors get to keep what they have or watch control shift to private competitors or new government entities.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI mostly feeds EVN here: data center buildouts are pushing power demand up, not routing customers around the grid. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Vietnam's own Politburo and Ministry of Industry and Trade, via Resolutions 70/328 and the DPPA decree. The owner is unwinding EVN's own monopoly: A0 dispatch was cut loose in 2024, and Decree 57/2025 lets big factories buy power directly from generators, skipping EVN. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.
03
What protects it. It still holds the transmission and distribution wires and retail default-supply role, so most households and small business demand has nowhere else to go.
What would change this call
Politburo approves final Resolution 328 restructuring plan in 2026. Shows whether EVN is split into separate transmission, generation, retail entities.
Number of large consumers signing DPPA direct power purchase contracts through 2026. Shows how fast big industrial customers bypass EVN's retail supply.
Whether Decree 278/2026 tariff pass-through clears the ~VND44.8 trillion accumulated losses. Shows if state financially rescues EVN or lets losses persist.
Number of large consumers signing DPPA direct power purchase contracts through 2026. Shows how fast big industrial customers bypass EVN's retail supply.
Whether Decree 278/2026 tariff pass-through clears the ~VND44.8 trillion accumulated losses. Shows if state financially rescues EVN or lets losses persist.
Key numbers
- FY2025 group revenue ~$24.82bn, up 10.3%
- Accumulated losses still ~VND44.8 trillion (~$1.7bn)
- 4th retail tariff hike since 2023, up 4.8% in May 2025
Named risks
- 2026 Politburo restructuring decision could split off transmission or open generation to private capital.
- DPPA expansion lets large customers bypass EVN, eroding retail revenue base.
- Criminal investigation into affiliate PECC3 executives (June 2026) could widen to EVN leadership.
- Accumulated losses of ~VND44.8 trillion remain unresolved on balance sheet as of end-2024.
- 173 solar and wind projects in unresolved retroactive tariff-cut payment disputes.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| PV Power (Petrovietnam Power Corporation) | contesting | Declined subsidiary IPOs May 25, 2026 to fund own LNG generation buildout |
| Private renewable IPPs | gaining on | DPPA framework under Decree 57/2025 (March 2025) lets large buyers bypass EVN |
| Vietnam's own state restructuring push | gaining on | Resolutions 70 and 328 (Aug 2025) mandate narrowing EVN's monopoly by 2026 |
| Rosatom (Russia) | contesting | Signed Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear intergovernmental deal with EVN as investor, March 2026 |
| EVNGENCO subsidiaries (e.g. PGV) | contesting | Listed separately on HOSE with independent market cap as of July 22, 2026 |
Questions people ask
- Is Vietnam Electricity (EVN) profitable in 2026?
- EVN returned to profit in FY2024 with post-tax profit of about VND8,237 billion after two loss years, and FY2025 consolidated group revenue rose 10.3% to roughly $24.82bn as of June 30, 2026. Accumulated losses of about VND44.8 trillion from 2022-2023 remained on the books at end-2024.
- Could AI replace Vietnam Electricity (EVN)?
- No. EVN's moat is a legal transmission monopoly and physical 500kV grid, not automatable. AI via its January 29, 2026 FPT partnership handles forecasting and anomaly detection; EVNHANOI cut grid losses from 3.5% to 3.07% by July 2026 using data tools, but that is efficiency, not replacement.
- Who owns Vietnam Electricity (EVN)?
- EVN is 100% owned by the Government of Vietnam and is not publicly traded as a parent entity. Some subsidiaries are listed separately, such as EVNGENCO3 (ticker PGV) on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, with a market cap of about VND25.84 trillion as of July 22, 2026.
- Is EVN's electricity monopoly being broken up?
- Yes, by its own owner. Politburo Resolution 70-NQ/TW (August 28, 2025) and Resolution 328 mandate a restructuring expected for Prime Minister approval in 2026, following the August 2024 separation of the national dispatch center (A0) from EVN.
- Is it safe to take a job at Vietnam Electricity (EVN)?
- It depends on the unit: transmission and distribution roles are largely shielded since EVN retains legal monopoly there, but generation subsidiaries like GENCO1-3 face rising private IPP competition. Separately, executives at affiliate PECC3 were prosecuted and detained in June 2026 amid an ongoing sector investigation.
- Who is EVN's biggest competitor?
- No company can legally replicate Vietnam's national grid, but competition is growing in generation: Direct Power Purchase Agreements under Decree 57/2025 (March 2025) let large industrial customers buy renewable power directly, bypassing EVN, and PV Power is expanding its own LNG generation fleet instead of IPOing subsidiaries as of May 25, 2026.
Timeline
- 2026-07-24PECC3 (TV3) chairman and CEO remain under criminal detention while still drawing Q2 pay
- 2026-07-23EVN publicly lobbies against expanding DPPA eligibility, citing revenue and customer loss
- 2026-07-19Government holds implementation meeting on Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear plant, EVN as investor
- 2026-07-14Vietnam sets record peak power demand of 57,537 MW amid heat wave
- 2026-07-10Decree 278/2026 eases thresholds for EVN retail price adjustments
- 2026-06-30EVN reports FY2025 group revenue up 10.3% to about $24.82bn
- 2026-06-15EVN launches nationwide 'EVN Customer Service' mobile app
- 2026-03Vietnam and Russia sign intergovernmental agreement on Rosatom VVER-1200 reactors for Ninh Thuan 1
- 2026-01-29EVN signs strategic AI and digital cooperation agreement with FPT Corporation
- 2025-08-28Politburo issues Resolution 70-NQ/TW mandating EVN monopoly restructuring
Revision history
26 July 2026
First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Power Generation Corporation 3 (HOSE:PGV) (2026-07-22)
- Reshaping Vietnam's electricity market | The impact of Resolutions 70 and 328 (2025-10-31)
- Products, Competitors, Financials, Employees, Headquarters Locations (2026-06-30)
- Vietnam Considers Modest Electricity Price Hike Amid EVN Losses (2025-09-06)
- From boom to balance in Vietnam's clean energy transition (2025-06-17)
- The average salary for 3,593 employees of EVN's parent company... (2026-06-29)
- Vietnam's electricity prices rise 4.8%, marking 4th hike since 2023 (2025-05-12)
- Government eases threshold for electricity retail price adjustments (2026-07-10)
- What does EVN gain and lose when expanding participation in direct power purchase mechanism (2026-07-23)
- Vietnam Accelerates The Landmark Ninh Thuan 2 Nuclear Power Project (2026-07-19)
- EVN and FPT Sign Strategic Partnership (2026-01-29)
- Bringing digital electricity services closer to customers in Ha Tinh (2026-07-19)