5 wind power projects still stuck in bauxite planning area

Five wind power projects with a total investment of tens of thousands of billions of VND in the west of Lam Dong province are being stalled because they are located in bauxite planning areas, causing waste of resources.

The western region of Lam Dong province has 6 wind power projects.

Building on mineral planning

The western part of the province has 6 wind power projects including: Dak N'Drung 1, 2, 3, Dak Hoa, Asia Dak Song 1 and Nam Binh 1 wind power projects. The total capacity of the 6 projects is about 430 MW, with an investment capital of more than 14,800 billion VND. As of October 2025, only 1/6 wind power projects in the western part of the province are in commercial operation, the other 5 projects are still "inactive".

According to the reporter's records, by October 2025, of the 6 projects above, only the Dak Hoa wind power plant, with a capacity of 50 MW, has been in commercial operation since November 2021 and has contributed to the local budget. Since its operation, this project has contributed an annual electricity output of about 162.3 million kWh - accounting for 6.98% of the electricity sources supplied in the western part of the province.

Projects still face difficulties and obstacles due to being implemented in areas with overlapping planning between energy projects and bauxite mineral planning areas. Specifically, according to the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate in 2023, 5/6 wind power plant projects are located in the zoning plan for exploration, exploitation, processing and use of bauxite in the period 2007 - 2015, with consideration to 2025, which was previously approved by the Prime Minister.

In addition, there were also some violations in the commencement, acceptance and commercial operation of wind power projects. Among these, the Nam Binh 1, Dak Hoa, Dak N'Drung 1, 2, 3 wind power plants started construction when the land for construction had not been leased by the Provincial People's Committee.

In particular, the Nam Binh 1 wind power plant project started construction without the announcement of the technical design appraisal results from the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade .

By October 2025, of the 6 projects in the western region of the province, only Dak Hoa Wind Power Plant has been put into commercial operation.

In addition to the above violations, the construction area of ​​wind power projects used to be a “hot spot” when clashes broke out between local residents and people from wind power projects. At the peak, many people had to be hospitalized because the conflict between the two sides was resolved by violence. The reason was that during the compensation agreement process, the households and wind power investors could not find a common voice. Meanwhile, many investors wanted to speed up the project implementation progress to put it into commercial operation soon.

The prolonged tension has affected security and order in some areas, forcing local authorities to increase forces to stabilize the situation. Many dialogues and conciliations have been organized to resolve problems between people and businesses, but the results are still limited because the compensation and support prices have not met people's expectations. Some households said that the recovered land has not been properly valued, while businesses are concerned about the costs exceeding the plan, affecting project progress and investment efficiency.

Recommendations to remove difficulties

At the end of 2024, the Government issued Resolution No. 233/NQ-CP to remove difficulties for renewable energy projects (Resolution No. 233), paving the way for localities to complete procedures so that stalled projects can operate in accordance with regulations. Immediately after that, the province repeatedly petitioned the Government, ministries and central branches to remove obstacles.

Accordingly, the wind power projects to be implemented have been approved by the Prime Minister for power development planning in 2020. Since the time of wind power projects implementation until now, two overlapping plans have existed in parallel.

In addition, the location of the wind power projects is in the planning area of ​​Dak Song mine and Tuy Duc mine. The total area is about 47,200 hectares (not yet licensed for exploitation). However, the land use demand of the 6 wind power projects only accounts for a small part of about 0.17% of the total area.

The area for transformer stations, power lines, and scattered towers is also insignificant, not affecting much the bauxite reserves. The construction of wind power projects does not cause loss of mineral resources; there is no illegal exploitation, transportation, or trading of bauxite. Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee recommends considering creating favorable conditions for the projects to be completed and put into operation.

Recently, in the report on the results of the implementation of the resolution of difficulties and obstacles according to Resolution No. 233, the Provincial People's Committee said that the wind power project investors have completed the report on the assessment of the socio-economic efficiency between the implementation of wind power projects and mineral exploitation. For the project location located in the bauxite mineral planning area, the Provincial People's Committee proposed to include it in the national mineral reserve area, in accordance with the policy of implementing Resolution No. 233 of the Government.

At the end of 2024, the Government issued Resolution No. 233/NQ-CP to remove difficulties for renewable energy projects.

In addition, the Provincial People's Committee also requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to promptly review and advise the Prime Minister to consider and promptly adjust the removal of 6 wind power projects overlapping the bauxite planning from the Mineral Planning approved in Decision No. 866/QD-TTg dated July 18, 2023; at the same time, consider and propose appropriate solutions for projects and works approved before the issuance of Decision No. 866/QD-TTg in the province.

During the time of adjustment, the Provincial People's Committee proposed that the Prime Minister direct the Ministry of Industry and Trade to coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to review, evaluate, and determine the boundaries of areas with bauxite ore bodies, as a basis for considering and allowing the implementation of works and projects in the mineral planning area (but not affecting bauxite ore bodies) to meet the requirements of socio-economic development.

According to calculations by the authorities, if all 6 wind power projects in Dak Nong go into commercial operation, they will contribute about 1.29 billion kWh of electricity to the grid, paying the budget about 400 billion VND/year.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/5-du-an-dien-gio-van-mac-ket-trong-vung-quy-hoach-bauxite-402051.html